Wordworks

A Short Story

2008-08-18T14:28:00.000+08:00

Sometime, somewhere...

There lives a boy.

This boy had been living quite happily with his family and friends for years. Even though he had to study abroad, he quickly made new friends. He had some tough situations and rift in friendship, but prevailed; even to the extent of making new friends.

One year has passed since this particular boy went abroad. Nothing went wrong, until one day he felt an unexpected and uncomfortable change on his friends, especially his coursemates.

"What happened?" he asked himself in false hopes of getting a satisfying answer.

As time flew, the feelings got more and more intense. He endured it for a few days, until he realized that even some of his friends seemed to exclude him, especially one particular person. The boy thought that person was cynical to him.

The irony was that this person had been good friends with the boy for almost a year. The boy just couldn't bear this fact. Since he was a type of person who doesn't want his problems to be known, he feigned smile. He masked his loneliness with his cheerfulness. That hurted him a lot.

On the dawn of midnight of a joyful day, he thought over this problem again. He realized that he needed to talk to someone about it. So, he went out to meet his close friend to share about it, as well as passing some files the friend would need soon. But, seeing him being kept busy by much more than just a few assignment, the boy couldn't afford to bother him and could only accomplish the latter. He went back home.

On his way back, the boy thought about the problem he had been immersed into. He felt sorry for himself because he couldn't find out why such aching a problem had to befall him.

"Who are my friends?" shouted the boy out loud in his heart, "where are they?"

He was so lonely to the point of even receiving an SMS from someone lifted his spirit pretty significantly.

As he got back to his room, he dipped himself in prayer, talking silently to someone he knew he could always share with. And to end the day...

He crafted this story.

He poured out all his thought in making this story, remembering anyone he could think of. His family. His friends. The ones he thought to be excluding him.

He hoped that everything would return to be fine. He knew that he would always have more than just someone to help him out. His thought ran through a list of them.

The family.
The two designers.
The DotA player.
The beatboxer.
The alumna.
The jogger.

And this story he dedicated to all of them.

God bless us all.

A Ferocious Quandary

2008-07-29T11:23:00.003+08:00

First of all, why ferocious? Simply because it's so intense.

Let me just get this straight and over with. My family will visit Singapore again on August 8th, and I really want and need to see them. Yet, from 7th until 10th, GTD is taking place. These two events are concurrent.

This is really something. Both are really important for me, and I can't just leave either one be. I wish I could find some vacant space of time within the overwhelmingly packed GTD, be it only 2 hours, to visit my family at Holiday Inn.

This is a moment where I have to choose one of two alternatives with at least one unsatisfactory consequence, although hardly nobody says that something like this spices up life. Hmm... needless to say, I have to utilize my very best judgment and sense of priority to cope with this dilemma. Sacrifice of time and energy is a must.

Help me choose.

Week of Endless Pursuit

2008-07-27T22:42:00.007+08:00

Hmm, it's been a week since I last wrote...

Well, as most of you already know, I couldn't write as frequently as before because of my activities. They took a hell lot of time.

One of them was CSA FOC (Catholic Students' Apostolate Freshmen Orientation Camp), and I took part as a welfare main committee. As the name suggests, my job was to ensure the well-being of the participants, be it providing food or first aid.

The whole camp took 4 days, with the last 2 days spent at Aloha Loyang (near Pasir Ris Park, all the way across Singapore from NTU). Of course, tiring was it. One thing for sure, though: it was damn fun. I got to know the freshies and fellow seniors. The games were outright enjoyable. The chalet was awfully nice. At the end of the day, it was so heavenly a camp.

On the last day of the camp, everybody went out to East Coast Park to play beach games. (Randy and) I didn't go though, because we had a convocation to be present. It was Kelsen's. With that in mind, we went straight from Pasir Ris to NTU, took some rest, and attended the convocation. After congratulating some friends, I went back to join the GTD senior camp (which took 2 days, but I can't talk about it now).

Okay, so after the senior camp had finished, I was free from this morning onwards. I went to the church with the usual friends and some more (not unusual) friends and... freshies! There were pretty many of them; 7 or 8 people, I guess. I reckon that it was their first Mass in Singapore (so what?). After the Mass, we did our weekly chores: eat and shop at Jurong Point, but this time plus getting the freshies to know their way around JP. We ate at Kopitiam (as usual), shopped at Fair Price, and visited Popular.

Maybe that's all there is to say. Other than playing bridge and winning at least 4 out of 5 matches, there's no so significant a story to tell. Since I'm getting a little tired now, I'm going to use some rest... my feet are still killing me due to outdoor games yesterday.

See you next post, and I hope it will be posted soon ^.^

Moving: BIE Style vs ADM Style

2008-07-18T21:06:00.005+08:00

Hari ini gw mengalami pindahan lagi. Bukan, bukan gw, tapi gw bantuin Dennice pindahan. Dan gw menemukan beberapa persamaan dan perbedaan antara 2 jenis pindahan yang udah gw alami ini. Penting banget ya =P

Persamaannya:

1. Melibatkan 3 orang. BIE style melibatkan gw, Yossy, Tere. ADM style melibatkan gw, Dennice, kokonya.

2. Jarak yang jauh. BIE style ditempuh dari hall 9 ke hall 12. ADM style ditempuh dari hall 5 ke hall 8.

3. Tanjakan terjal. BIE style melewati tanjakan di depan Nanyang Heights. ADM style melewati tanjakan di depan block 44.

4. Trolley yang dipakai. Kedua style menggunakan trolley yang sama, dipinjam dari orang yang sama.

Perbedaannya:

1. Jumlah barang. BIE style mengangkut banyak barang. ADM style mengangkut sangat banyak barang.

2. Berat barang. BIE style mengangkut barang-barang berat. ADM style mengangkut barang-barang sangat berat.

3. Jumlah ronde. BIE style melalui 2 ronde. ADM style melalui 3 ronde.

4. Tingkat kesulitan. BIE style: hard. ADM style: very hard.

5. Jumlah anak tangga yang dilalui dengan trolley. BIE style tidak menuntun trolley melalui tangga. ADM style menuntun trolley melalui banyak anak tangga.

6. Indikasi alergi debu gw. BIE style membuat gw batuk dan bersin ga berhenti selama 1 hari. ADM style hanya membuat gw bersin-bersin sampai 1 jam.

Yah, jadi gitu deh kira-kira perbandingan antara prosedur pindahan gw sama Dennice... tau sendiri yang mana yang lebih repot, secara anak ADM punya banyak barang berupa kertas berlembar-lembar, hahaha...

Sumpah, penting banget gw bikin post ini... ga ada kerjaan sih... XD

Celebration of My Return: Torment by Moving

2008-07-17T23:21:00.004+08:00

Gw udah balik lagi ke Singapore nih... sebenernya gw baliknya kemaren sih, tapi gw belum bisa segera posting karena sesampainya di kamar (bukan kamar gw juga sih, secara kunci gw hilang dan gw ga bisa balik ke kamar gw), bawaannya udah langsung pingin tidur... =P

Anyway, inti pembicaraan gw kali ini bukan mengenai gw pulang jam berapa, naek apa, sampenya di negara mana, makan apa, dan pake Counterpain gara-gara apa (makin ga nyambung), tapi tentang siksaan yang gw alami hari ini.

Gw pindahan.

Darn. Proses pindahannya bener-bener makan waktu dan tenaga. Terus terang gw agak-agak meremehkan the overall process, dan gw shock saat tau bahwa semuanya makan waktu sekitar 2 setengah jam. Untung aja gw ga harus melakukan semuanya all by myself. Kalo sampe iya sih gw mendingan pilih bayar lebih dari $215.

Prosesnya melibatkan 3 orang (gw, Yossy, Tere) dan 2 ronde. Ronde pertama gw pindahin printer, koper baju, dan kardus-kardus laennya. Itu berat. Ternyata ronde kedua lebih berat lagi; isinya koper laen, kantong-kantong berisi macem-macem, ember, textbook, tas. Dan pindahannya ga nanggung-nanggung: dari kamar gw di hall 9 lantai 5 (harus diturunin ke lantai 1) ke kamar Tonton di hall 12 lantai 5 (masuknya dari lantai 4). Jarak dari hall 9 ke hall 12 mungkin sekitar 300 sampe 400 meter, mungkin lebih. Ga jauh? Mungkin juga, tapi yang jelas ga gampang, karena kami harus melalui either one of these: tanjakan yang cukup terjal di depan apartemen Nanyang Heights, atau jalan seribu tangga di hall 8. Akhirnya, setelah berpikir matang-matang, dipilihlah jalan muter lewat Nanyang Heights karena gw ga mau ngangkat-ngangkatin macem-macem barang lewat tangga.

Kata Yossy, pindahan merupakan bukti kalo kita udah jadi senior. Meskipun belum tentu juga karena mungkin ada freshie yang retain kamar, at least untuk tahun ini pernyataannya semi-valid, karena smua freshie (kecuali Dennice, tapi dia juga ga retain) yang naek ke 2nd year pada ga dapet kamar dan harus pindahan. Swt deh... -_-"

Selesainya pindahan, gw mandi lanjut makan. Puas banget rasanya, apalagi beberapa saat setelah makan itu gw tidur. Rasanya ga pingin bangun aja sampe besok pagi... sayangnya gw punya satu janji yang ga mungkin gw ingkari: ngabisin makanan yang dibawa Jimot. Hahaha. Kalo urusannya udah makan-memakan orang (makanan, maksud gw), ayo deh... =P

Malemnya, bosen deh... sampe menjelang jam 12 ini gw ga menemukan sesuatu untuk dikerjakan... palingan maen DS... diajakin Cia maen capsa sih, tapi masih kurang orang... sampe terkumpul at least 4 orang, bakalan cengo nih, hahaha...

Uncertainty

2008-07-12T01:08:00.004+08:00

Hari ini (Jumat, 11 Juli) udah menjadi hari yang sangat ga enak dan bikin gw amat sangat bete (dalam arti irritated).

Pertama, rencana yang udah dibuat sejak lama (dan udah sempet ga kesampean satu kali), which is nonton dan makan Poke Sushi bareng Maria, Cumi, sama Tozzy, gagal untuk yang kedua kalinya. Meskipun gw udah menerima apa adanya, gw ga bisa menyembunyikan kenyataan bahwa gw kecewa. Bener-bener kecewa. Semua yang udah gw rencanain, kesenangan yang gw tunggu... hilang semua. Tapi gw ga mau nyalahin siapa-siapa... di sini, simply ga ada yang salah. I don't blame you guys...

Kedua, gw baru nyadar kalo ternyata gw declare untuk tinggal di hall cuma sampe tanggal 22 Juni. Buat yang belum tau, kalo kita ga kembaliin kunci setelah tanggal terakhir yang kita declare, kita bakalan didenda karena overstaying. Besarnya denda tergantung kita tinggal di hall AC atau non-AC dan kamar single atau double. Setelah gw hitung-hitung, pas gw balik ke Singapore nanti, gw perlu bayar S$206, termasuk biaya ganti kunci gw yang hilang.

Ketiga, gw membuat keputusan yang salah dengan tinggal di rumah dan ga ke Gading. Turned out that gw udah fed up di rumah. Pertimbangannya, kalo pun gw ke Gading, gw cuma bisa cengo ngeliatin bonyok gw tanding bowling, dan gw tau pasti pulangnya bakalan lebih dari jam setengah 12. Ternyata, tinggal di rumah merupakan sesuatu yang lebih parah... gw mencapai titik jenuh. Ga ada makanan dan ga sempet pesen apa-apa.

Keempat, rencana gw untuk ngasih surprise buat nyokap gw yang hari ini ulang tahun gagal total. Awalnya gw berencana untuk pura-pura lupa, terus nyari hadiah sekalian jalan-jalan. Karena jalan-jalannya batal dan gw ga jadi ke Gading, batal jugalah gw nyari hadiah. Sekarang bonyok gw ga bisa ditelepon karena suatu alasan, dan karena itu gw malah ga sempet ngasih ucapan selamat yang tepat waktu. Semuanya serba salah, dan bagian inilah yang paling gw ga suka.

Kelima, sampe sekarang bonyok gw masih belum pulang. Ok, setiap Jumat mereka emang ada tanding bowling di Gading, dan mereka biasanya pulang malem. Tapi semalem-malemnya mereka pulang juga masih sekitar jam 12. Kali ini mereka belum pulang sampe jam setengah 1, dan seperti yang udah gw bilang tadi, HP mereka ga diangkat-angkat. Damn... everything is simply screwed up...

Karena kejadian buruk yang menimpa gw hari ini, gw tadi sempet berpikir... mendingan gw hari ini ga usah bangun aja dan tetep di tempat tidur aja kali ya... sekarang perasaan gw campur aduk, bahkan chatting sama Maria, Indra, dan Tere aja kerasa garing dan ga berpengaruh apa-apa... terus terang, hari ini gw ga inget udah menerima kabar baik...

Apa yang harus gw lakukan sekarang? Don't know. Kalo gw boleh teriak sekarang, gw bakalan teriak sekenceng-kencengnya. Mungkin gw harus menenangkan diri dulu sebentar dan berdoa supaya semuanya baik-baik aja... tapi yang pasti, dengan nulis post ini, gw jadi ngerasa ada seseorang untuk gw ceritain masalah gw. Dan itu membuat gw sedikit lebih lega, meskipun masih ada yang ngeganjel...

Thanks for hearing me out... GBU =)

Negative Reinforcement

2008-07-07T01:22:00.006+08:00

Ga biasanya gw berbuat kejam ke binatang, dan gw harap hal itu ga perlu terjadi. Ternyata, semuanya MUNGKIN berubah saat gw mengetahui satu kejadian yang unpredictable dan random banget.

Kasur gw dipipisin kucing.

BRENGSEK!!!

Ok, lo smua boleh ketawa karena emang kejadian ini bisa dianggep lucu, dan gw ga ngelarang lo ketawa. Cuma perlu diketahui, gw sebagai pemilik kasur jadi ngerasa ilfil untuk tidur di kasur sendiri. Bayangin aja, sprei sama selimut gw pun kena cairan berbau super ga enak (yang menurut gw bau hamster mati aja masih lebih mendingan). Lebih parah, kasur gw itu yang tipenya jadi satu sama ranjangnya, yang artinya ga bisa dibawa keluar buat dijemur. Gw cuma bisa berharap sama berliter-liter air sabun panas untuk menetralisir racun cair itu.

Untungnya, sekarang kasur gw udah bersih. Sebersih-bersihnya. Ke dalemnya udah diresepin antiseptik Dettol, dan permukaannya udah dilap pake sabun. Tinggal nunggu kering aja sekarang sampe gw bisa pake kasurnya seperti sediakala lagi. Duh... gw ga tau gimana jadinya kalo ga bisa dibersihin. Kasur lucu. Dibuang. Karena pipis kucing. Rasanya bener-bener ga wajar dan ga waras.

Gw bingung, dari mana masuknya dia? Semua pintu dan jendela rumah gw udah ditutup dan dikunci sebelum gw pergi tadi. Of course, sebelum pergi, kasur gw masih bersih. Beneran deh. Gw ga habis pikir dia bisa masuk-masuk ke kamar gw gimana caranya.

Makhluk setan itu perlu dikasih pelajaran. Gw ga pingin ngasih yang aneh-aneh, paling cuma gantung ekornya di kipas angin, kurung dia di tempat hammer piano (ruang di dalem piano yang ada palu-palu sama dawai; palunya bakalan mukul dawainya kalo tutsnya kita teken) dan gw maenin pianonya, masukkin ke dalem grandfather's clock, tanem dia di tanah dan cuma nyisain kepalanya di luar, ato simply pipisin dia balik.

Kucing brengsek.

Profile #1

2008-07-03T12:00:00.011+08:00

Tersiksa dengan boredom wave yang melanda Pondok Kelapa dan sekitarnya, gw berencana untuk ngepost sesuatu yang ga penting. Better than not.

Gw bakalan ngepost sedikit deskripsi tentang beberapa temen gw. Karena mungkin ada aib ato apa pun yang bocor gara-gara posting yang ini, gw mengucapkan dulu buat mereka yang sampe di sini aja udah ngerasa namanya bakalan disebut, "SORRY IN ADVANCE". Here goes!

1. Abhy.
Bernama lengkap Abhyasa Naradhipa, bioengineering. Yang punya dan ngurusin blog ini. Identik dengan Nintendo DS dan Pokemon, karena setiap saat keliatan bareng handheld persegi panjang 13.3 cm x 7.3 cm putih memainkan game retarded bernama Pokemon Diamond ato Pokemon Pearl. Wataknya rame, (terlalu) suka ngebully orang, tukang bikin ribut di kelas, bisa ketawa dengan berbagai macam style (dari kuntilanak sampe genderuwo) dan range suara (dari soprano sampe bass), dan ususnya ga berujung. Kalo ada kelas pagi (jam 8.30 ato 9.30), hampir bisa dipastikan manusia yang satu ini bakalan skip terus. Di kalangan anak bioengineering, dialah yang HP-nya paling sering dipinjem untuk foto-foto muka yang gitu-gitu aja (sama ekspresi, sama sudut elevasi, sama panjang kemonyongan bibir). Seneng banget menyibukkan diri sama kegiatan-kegiatan organisasi dan melupakan pelajaran. Kebodohan yang belum lama ini dilakukan olehnya adalah maen bowling 47 game dalam 2 hari sampe jempol tangan kanannya lecet.

2. Maria.
Bernama lengkap Maria Magdalena Winarni, bioengineering. Target ejekan utama orang-orang. Profesinya adalah sebagai badut, dan di mukanya kayak ada tulisan "please bully me". Despite that, dia bisa dibilang orang paling pede dan sabar terhadap ejekan-ejekan yang ditujukan padanya. Kebiasaan buruknya itu loncat-loncat kayak orang sakaw waktu jalan (dan lebih ga becus dari pocong), nyebrang tiba-tiba bahkan pas ada mobil, dan mempermalukan diri di depan profesor. Dia ngaku-ngaku sebagai die-hard-fan dari Wilber Pan. Jatuh hati pada seorang tutor biomolecular engineering, orang Korea. Kata-kata favoritnya adalah "babi", "amsiong", "ajsdhjsda" (MSN only), "gorok" (MSN only), dan "kutuk" (MSN only). Mereka yang ngelawan perintahnya ga mungkin bisa selamat.

3. Dennice (Cumi).
Bernama lengkap Dennice Juwono, art design and media. Untuk suatu alesan dipanggil "Cumi". Orang yang baru pertama kali ketemu bakalan berpikir kalo dia agak-agak suka ngatur. Penuh dengan insight dan thoughtful, tapi gampang terobsesi dengan yang namanya Pokemon sama Gundam (dan gw merasa bersalah ngasih dia emulator Pokemon beberapa saat sebelum exam special semester 1). Sepintas keliatan workaholic karena seolah-olah selalu tertimbun dengan banyak kerjaan dan tugas. Mengenal Photoshop udah kayak permukaan lidahnya sendiri. Satu hal yang agak kekanak-kanakan tentang dia adalah kalo jalan-jalan ke mall pasti nyariin vending machine yang ngeluarin action figure; dia rela mengeluarkan uang hingga $11 di serentetan vending machine demi action figure yang dia pingin.

4. Cia.
Bernama lengkap Marcia Calista, bioengineering. Merupakan partner badut dari Maria. Makhluk ini sering banget motret-motret diri sendiri dan (dengan bangga dan ga pentingnya) boasting tentang gimana dia bisa dapet ekspresi yang tepat, sudut elevasi yang tepat, dan panjang kemonyongan bibir yang tepat (yang selalu sama di setiap fotonya). Di kalangan anak bioengineering, dia merupakan target bully kedua setelah Maria. Paling sensitif dengan kata-kata yang berhubungan dengan "bola", dan takluk dengan kata-kata "cantik" dan "manis". Tak jarang membuat aib di kelas, mulai dari memencet tombol play di HP seseorang dengan tidak sengaja, teriak (kayak ngeliat kecoa) karena tempat pensilnya jatuh, bahkan pernah sampe diketawain lecturer karena kesandung meja orang. Satu kemampuan yang dia miliki adalah dengan mudah menyamar jadi kepiting rebus kalo lagi ngerasa humiliated... mukanya jadi merah banget.

5. Yonathan (Tozzy).
Bernama lengkap Yonathan Widya Adipradana, electrical and electronic engineering. Dari mana dia dapet nama panggilan "Tozzy" adalah rahasia alam semesta. Merupakan maniak Winning Eleven (WE) sejati; bahkan di sela-sela kesibukannya dulu selama industrial attachment (baca: magang) masih bisa menemukan gratifikasi yang datang dari game tersebut. Kecintaannya pada WE itu mendorongnya untuk membeli 2 pasang joystick komputer. Dia juga hobi maen kartu, terutama capsa, dan game kartu babi yang diperkenalkan olehnya bener-bener bisa bikin ketawa. Karena suatu alesan, pernah menjadi anak pseudo-bioengineering. Salah satu keahliannya adalah ngakak tanpa suara. Yang perlu ditekankan di sini adalah bahwa menulis deskripsinya hampir ga ada seru-serunya karena ga ada apa-apa dalam dirinya untuk diungkapkan -_-

Sekian dulu deh profil temen-temen gw. Masih banyak orang yang ga termuat di sini, dan mereka bakalan termuat di edisi-edisi mendatang yang pasti bakalan muncul beberapa saat lagi... waspadalah! ^.^

Fainted

2008-06-28T01:25:00.002+08:00

22 games of bowling PLUS SICKNESS was really, really something. Seriously, I've never felt anything like this before.

Yah, gitu lah kira-kira. Hari Jumat, 27 Juni, gw maen bowling 22 game. Mungkin kedengeran agak gila, tapi ya emang begitulah faktanya. Kok bisa, you ask?

Well... kemarin itu gw emang berencana ke Gading untuk jalan-jalan. Gw udah janjian bareng temen-temen ex-CC gw: Mac, Leo, sama Paulus. Dan jadilah gw ketemu mereka. Kita makan sore sekitar jam 3 sampe jam 4 gitu, maen pool 3 setengah game, jalan-jalan tanpa tujuan sampe jam 7, terus gw dipanggil nyokap untuk ke Viva Bowling. Yah, bonyok PLUS ade PLUS sepupu gw mau ada pertandingan. Gw sama temen-temen disuruh maen dulu sama nyokap, jadilah kita maen.

Sebenernya gw agak-agak ragu untuk maen sih, karena gw ngerasa agak-agak ga enak badan. Tapi mengingat biasanya bonyok kalo ada turnamen selesenya sekitar jam 11.30 pm, daripada cengo gw mendingan maen. Paksa-paksain dikit lah. Dan ternyata itulah awal dari "kematian" gw sekarang ini.

Awalnya gw maen bareng temen-temen. Setelah 3 game, mereka harus pulang, jadi ya sayonara buat mereka. Ok, gw dapet kabar dari nyokap gw kalo mereka cuma bakalan sampe sekitar jam 10, gw agak tenang. Gw maen lagi beberapa game, dan jam setengah 9 ade gw dateng ngasih tau kalo turnamen bakalan selese jam 11.30. Matilah gw.

Dan ketidakinginan gw untuk cengo pun bergejolak. Sesuatu di dalam diri gw mengasut fisik gw yang benernya udah cape untuk maen, maen, maen, dan maen terus. Euphoria. Alhasil, gw pun maen non-stop dari sekitar jam 7.30 ampe jam 11.30. That's it. It was a total of 22 games. Bahkan mbak penjaganya sampe nanya, "Ga cape maen terus Bhy?" (yep, dia kenal gw). o.O

Pulang-pulangnya, gw mulai ngerasa ga enak badan. Napas gw kerasa panas. Gw pusing. Hidung gw mampet. Gawat, tanda-tanda sakit. Ini gara-gara sejak pagi gw ngerasa ga enak tapi gw tetep paksain. Yah, maklum, orang ga bisa diem disuruh nunggu, mana mau? =P

Dan sekarang gw duduk di depan laptop, siap untuk menandakan akhir dari postingan ini, mandi, dan ngelanjutin postingan laen yang udah gw rencanakan... kalo gw masih punya tenaga. Kepala gw udah berat, mata udah tinggal 2.5 watt, tangan udah mau copot, kaki udah nangis-nangis, hidung udah macet, SUHU BADAN UDAH MENINGKAT. Kurang apa lagi? Komplikasi nih.

Lalalala...

Agony of Boredom

2008-06-25T12:09:00.002+08:00

Ternyata balik ke Indo juga ga (belum) semenarik yang gw harapkan...

Seperti biasa, gw dirundung kebosanan saat liburan. Kalo gw masih di Sing, gw bisa dengan mudah jalan ke kamar Edo atau Tozzy atau Dennice minta tumpangan, ngajakin jalan-jalan, atau apa pun. Intinya, di sana gampang banget nyari companion. Di sini?

Rumah gw di Pondok Kelapa. Buat yang ga tau di mana itu Pondok Kelapa, ga usah heran dan takut, karena daerah itu emang ada di outskirts. Kalo lo tau Bekasi, nah, Pondok Kelapa itu tetangganya, cuma aja masih di dalam Jakarta. Dari sini ke Monas aja ada sekitar 22 km. Udah dapet gambaran seberapa jauhnya rumah gw?

Yah, ini merupakan suatu penderitaan oleh seorang anak yang rumahnya jauh dari pusat kota. Ga bisa ke mana-mana. Mobil dipake, angkot ga aman, jalan kaki juga siapa yang mau... cuma bisa berhubungan dengan dunia melalui MSN. Ok, gw lebay =P

Biasanya sih gw diajakin bonyok maen bowling. Well... ga tau kenapa, sejak hari Senin gw jadi rada males maen. Gw rasa karena pas Senin itu gw maen sampe sekitar 20 game, terus tangan kanan gw jadi kebas, pegel, SAKIT. Sampe sekarang gw masih belum bisa nge-grip kuat pake tangan kanan... much less ngelempar bola dengan bener.

Akhirnya, kemarin gw memutuskan untuk tinggal di rumah aja, sambil ngelatih Leafeon gw di Pokemon Pearl. Ujung-ujungnya balik ke DS juga sih. Hahahaha. Mungkin kalo saat ini di depan gw ada lecture notes sama soal-soal tutorial untuk semester depan, gw bakalan nyoba baca, belajar, dan ngerjain soal-soal itu deh... saking bosennya... =P

Master of Exams

2008-06-23T17:13:00.005+08:00

Apakah Anda termasuk orang yang khawatir tentang exam? Jika Anda menjawab "ya", maka post ini merupakan post yang cocok untuk Anda!

Berikut ini beberapa kiat jitu yang dapat membantu Anda untuk mendapatkan nilai bagus di dalam exam. Harap diperhatikan bahwa tidak semua yang Anda baca adalah benar =P

1. Belajar. Tentu saja ini adalah kiat yang sudah terbukti, dari tahun ke tahun, generasi ke generasi. Dengan belajar, kita dapat memberi "makanan" berupa wawasan baru untuk dikonsumsi oleh otak. Jika dengan belajar sedikit saja Anda sudah dapat mengerti semua poin dalam topik yang Anda pelajari, maka Anda merupakan orang yang sangat pintar. Jika Anda masih belum mengerti apa yang Anda pelajari bahkan setelah 512 kali mencoba untuk mengerti, tenang saja, ada jutaan orang di dunia ini yang bernasib sama seperti Anda.

2. Makan ikan. Anda tahu, bahwa asupan polimer asam amino (yang juga disebut dengan protein) secara berkecukupan dapat membantu kita untuk berpikir jernih? Ikan merupakan salah satu bahan pangan yang kaya akan protein, hampir setara dengan daging. Namun, karena kadar lemaknya yang lebih rendah, ikan lebih disarankan untuk dikonsumsi. Fakta bahwa ikan dapat berkontribusi dalam mencegah kegilaan dan hilang kewarasan ini juga dapat digunakan untuk mengalahkan true vegetarian (vegetarian yang benar-benar hanya mengonsumsi sayur-sayuran) dan mereka yang membenci sushi.

3. Istirahat yang cukup. Kita sering mendengar kasus di mana menjelang exam orang-orang belajar mati-matian sampai mengorbankan jam tidur mereka. Sebenarnya hal ini sangat tidak dianjurkan. Mengapa? Sebab dengan demikian, kita memaksa otak untuk bekerja keras. Apa yang akan terjadi jika otak kita dipaksa untuk bekerja sangat keras? Bayangkan saja sebuah komputer yang menyimpan memori di dalam drive C mereka hingga 90%. Mereka akan bekerja dengan sangat lambat dan tidak dapat mengeksekusi perintah-perintah yang kita berikan. Demikian pula dengan otak; kita akan terus merasa penat, seolah-olah tidak dapat menerima lagi apa yang kita pelajari. Untuk mencegah agar hal ini tidak sampai terjadi, kita perlu istirahat, terutama malam menjelang exam. Dengan demikian, pikiran dapat menjadi segar kembali. Namun, jika Anda malah oversleep dan bangun 1 menit sebelum exam (seperti salah seorang teman saya yang sekarang sudah lulus), tanggung sendiri risikonya.

4. Bersikaplah percaya diri. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution dalam menentukan skor akhir (seperti NTU). Dengan menunjukkan rasa percaya diri yang agak berlebih, Anda dapat mengintimidasi lawan exam Anda dan membuat mereka sedikit gugup, meskipun Anda tahu bahwa Anda tidak akan mendapatkan skor atau nilai yang lebih tinggi daripada mereka. Jangan tunjukkan bahwa Anda takut akan exam, melainkan pasanglah suatu attitude yang siap dan relaxed. Tunjukkan bahwa Anda tidak terlalu tense dalam persiapan exam ini. Pasang juga muka yakin saat memasuki exam hall. Jika Anda merasa bahwa tidak ada orang yang terintimidasi, berarti tampang Anda kurang mendukung.

5. Berusaha menjadi orang pertama yang keluar dari exam hall. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution. Lagi-lagi psikologi memainkan peran penting dalam metode ini. Dengan keluar terlebih dahulu, Anda dapat mengintimidasi lawan exam Anda lebih lanjut lagi. Pikiran mereka akan teralihkan dari kertas exam. Bonus yang Anda dapatkan: semua perhatian akan tertuju kepada Anda dan decakan-decakan kagum berkumandang bagaikan sangkakala di dalam exam hall. Perlu Anda ketahui juga bahwa metode ini sering digunakan oleh mereka yang benar-benar tidak mengerti harus menulis apa di lembar jawaban, sehingga mereka berpikir untuk menggambar abstrak di kertas jawaban dan segera meninggalkan exam hall.

6. Singkirkan orang yang lebih pintar dari Anda. Metode ini berlaku paling baik pada universitas yang menggunakan normal distribution. Cukup self-explanatory, metode ini memerlukan sedikit keberanian untuk berbuat dosa. Jika Anda tahu orang-orang yang sudah pasti mendapat hasil yang lebih baik dari Anda, cobalah untuk mencegah mereka mengambil exam. Anda dapat merusak jam weker mereka, mengikat mereka di tempat tidur, memasukkan obat tidur dalam minuman mereka, meracuni mereka, dan lain-lain. Dengan menyingkirkan mereka yang berpotensi mendapat nilai lebih bagus, nilai Anda akan menjadi salah satu dari beberapa nilai tertinggi di kelas, dan Anda dapat dengan mudah mendapatkan di atas B+. Sekali lagi, metode ini bukan untuk orang yang berhati baik, karena penyalahgunaannya dapat menjadikan Anda seorang pembunuh.

7. Menyontek. Metode ini seolah-olah merupakan nemesis dari metode nomor 1, belajar. Namun, sama seperti belajar, metode ini sudah teruji dari masa ke masa. Bedanya hanyalah metode ini lebih mengandalkan keberuntungan dan keahlian mencontek Anda, dan tentu saja melibatkan ketidakjujuran. Tanpa perlu dijelaskan, saya tahu bahwa kita semua tahu cara menyontek. Namun, jika Anda ketahuan menyontek dan dikeluarkan dari universitas, berarti Anda harus memperbaiki keahlian Anda dan melatih kekurangannya. Hal itu juga dapat disebabkan oleh kekurangberuntungan Anda karena pada saat itu pengawas kebetulan memergoki Anda, atau memang karena Anda cukup bodoh sekaligus berani untuk menyontek secara frontal di depan pengawas.

Masih banyak lagi metode yang dapat Anda gunakan untuk mendapatkan nilai bagus dalam exam, tetapi untuk sementara akan saya hentikan di sini dulu karena belum tentu Anda dapat menjalani semua metode yang saya berikan tadi, entah karena Anda adalah seorang true vegetarian, terlalu kiasu sampai lupa tidur, orang yang jujur, atau apa pun.

Selamat mencoba dan semoga berhasil!

Return

2008-06-23T17:07:00.003+08:00

Yeah... gw bakalan nulis lagi...

Untuk sementara gw bakalan nulis dalam bahasa Indo, karena gw lagi ada di Indo... apa hubungannya ya? Waktu di Singapore aja gw juga nulis pake bahasa Indo... huahahaha...

Anyway, gw bakalan di Indo sampe tanggal 16 Juli. Selama gw ga ada acara, gw dengan senang hati bakalan jalan-jalan sama temen-temen yang ngajak gw! Cihui... =P

Laundry Theft

2008-05-20T16:37:00.003+08:00

SIALAN!!! SIAAALLLLL!!!

Gw bener-bener KESEL sore ini!!! Brengsek!

Jadi, ceritanya, tadi pagi gw nyuci baju. Begitu selese nyuci, gw langsung jemur baju-bajunya di gantungan baju di depan kamar. Dan karena waktu itu gw udah hampir terlambat untuk berangkat buat lecture astronomy, gw langsung kunci kamar dan cabut ke kampus.

What did I find when I got back home, just a mere 3 hours later?

BEBERAPA BAJU GW HILANG.

Susunan jemuran yang berubah menandakan bahwa ada yang ngacak-ngacak jemuran gw. PENCURI. Brengsek! DASAR SADIS, puas kalo bisa bikin orang laen menderita! Gw heran, buat apa juga nyolong-nyolong baju orang laen? Ga bisa beli baju sendiri? Terlalu pelit? SHIT!!!

Masalah ini bakalan gw bawa ke hall office. Gw tau, emang udah ada beberapa orang yang kecolongan jemuran sebelum gw, dan bahkan hall office udah pasang pengumuman tentang hal ini. Gw harus tau, apa usaha konkrit mereka untuk mencegah kejadian-kejadian kayak begini?

Pencuri brengsek.

Quiet

2008-05-17T15:48:00.005+08:00

Gila lho, hari ini sepi banget...

Pas gw bangun tidur tadi, gw rasa hari ini bakalan jadi hari Sabtu yang cukup rame, entah kenapa. Pas pagi sih iya, tapi ternyata siangnya bener-bener sepi dan tenang.

Tadi pagi (menjelang siang), gw pergi ke Orchard lagi buat ngeliat-liat polo shirt yang kemarin gw taksir (putih garis-garis biru). Di sana sih jangan ditanya ramenya; selama yang namanya Orchard Road belum kena bencana, tempat itu udah ditakdirkan untuk selalu rame. MRT yang ke sana aja udah kayak kaleng ikan sarden... packed banget.

Nah, pulangnya dari Orchard, gw mulai ngeliat keanehan. Gw kan harus ganti MRT di Raffles Place. Pas turun, gw mikir kalo gw salah stasiun... harusnya gw ganti di City Hall aja, biar bisa dapet duduk. Kalo di Raffles Place, bisa-bisa ga dapet duduk gara-gara udah ditempatin sama orang-orang yang naek dari City Hall. Eh... ga taunya, keretanya sepi... tumben banget... gw pun masih bisa duduk.

Ternyata ga cuma sampe situ keanehannya. Di terminal Boon Lay bahkan ada yang lebih aneh lagi. Di tempat naek bus 179 yang biasanya orang-orang pada ngantri sampe panjaaaaaaang banget, cuma ada sedikit banget orang. Padahal pas itu busnya baru aja dateng di berthnya, dan orang-orang baru pada mulai naek. Gw kan naek bus 199, di lane untuk 199 ga ada yang nunggu sama sekali. Alhasil, pas busnya dateng, cuma gw yang naek. Eh, ternyata sampe satu stop setelah Sheng Siong, bus yang gw tumpangin ga berhenti sama sekali, bener-bener ga ada yang nyetop! Wow, rasanya cepet banget dari Boon Lay ke NTU. Gw turun di hall 12 untuk makan, dan gw inget banget busnya cuma berhenti 2 kali untuk ngambil penumpang: satu halte setelah Sheng Siong, sama di hall 14. Itu aja.

Di kamar gw malah lebih sepi lagi. Ga ada orang yang berkeliaran ke sana-sini, ga ada yang teriak-teriak di lounge, ga ada yang ngetok-ngetokin kamar, GA ADA ROOMMATE (yeah). Dan cuaca sekarang lagi cukup panas tapi berangin. Suara riang-riang kedengeran dari hutan di belakang kamar gw.

...

...

... sepi...

Di saat kayak gini, paling enak ngapaen?

...

...

... of course, tidur siang! Gw tidur dulu ya! ^.^

Extravagant, Spendthrift, Profligate... You Name It!

2008-05-16T23:34:00.006+08:00

Wahhhh... hari ini gw udah ngeluarin uang banyak banget. Udah ga kira-kira lagi.

Pertama, gw ngeluarin uang buat maen bowling, 3 game. Habis sudah $12. Tapi lumayan juga sih, worth it. Performance gw tadi not bad lah... game pertama dapet 110, game kedua 134, game ketiga 131. Jarang-jarang tuh gw bisa cukup stabil, soalnya biasanya setelah 2 game aja lemparan bolanya udah meleot-meleot entah ke mana. Mungkin karena hari ini gw bersemangat? Hehehe...

Kedua, gw ngeluarin uang buat beli polo shirt, $29. Ini brutal. Tadi gw ngeliat ada yang designnya baguuuus banget (warna dasar putih, ada garis-garis deep blue, biru biasa, sama cyan)... tapi ga ada ukuran buat gw. Pake S, kekecilan, Pake L, kegedean. Gw perlu yang M. Akhirnya gw beli design laen, warna dasar putih dengan garis-garis ijo tua sama ijo muda. Itu juga bagus sih, tapi yang biru masih lebih bagus lagi. Nanti kalo ada yang M gw beli yang biru ah... mumpung nyokap udah ngebolehin gitu tadi pas gw telepon... huahahaha... ^.^

Ketiga, gw ngeluarin uang buat potong rambut, $24. Biar kata nilainya lebih kecil daripada yang gw keluarin buat beli polo shirt, ini lebih brutal lagi. Bahkan kata Dennice pas mau rosario tadi, itu sama aja "lo dirampok sama orang tokonya". Yah... habis gimana ya? Ok, gw juga ngerasa kalo harga itu ga wajar. Masalahnya, gw ngerasa potong rambut di situ bagus sih... dan gw suka outcomenya... entah kenapa Dennice ngerasa kalo potong di situ rugi, padahal pas gw ngeliat outcome dia setelah potong di situ cukup bagus.

Keempat, gw ngeluarin uang buat biaya taksi, $20. Sore tadi gw ada rapat untuk ngebahas CSA FOC (Catholic Students' Apostolate Freshmen Orientation Camp, semacem acara orientasi gitu buat freshmen Katolik NTU di tahun ajaran mendatang), dan rapatnya itu di Lido Entertainment Centre, Orchard. Ngebayang dong jauhnya dari NTU (yang bahkan dari Boon Lay [ujung jalur ijo] pun masih harus naek bus) ke Orchard... wew... mungkin muncul pertanyaan, kenapa ga pulang naek MRT aja? Nah, masalahnya, gw selesai rapat itu jam 9, sementara jam 9.30 ada rosario di hall gw. Ga keburu lah kalo pake MRT. Alhasil gw nyetop taksi. Eh, instead of langsung masuk PIE (Pan-Island Expressway, analogous sama jalan tol dalam kota gitu lah kalo di Jakarta), taksinya muter lewat Bukit Timah. Lebih jauh deh. Gw udah panik aja harus bayar berapa. Pas masuk PIE dari Bukit Timah, oalah... pantesan diputer. PIE-nya macet. Untung aja ga langsung masuk dari daerah Orchard ato Whitley Road. Kalo masuk dari sana, udah lebih lama, bayarnya pasti juga lebih mahal. Untung, untung banget... hohoho... =P

Yah, jadi hari ini gw udah ngabisin... $ (12 + 29 + 24 + 20) = $85... meh! $85 cuma dalam sehari!? Mati dah... harus puasa berapa lama itu ya buat kompensasi, huhuhu... makan harus ngirit-ngirit nih... padahal gw lagi kepincut beli dompet sama tas selempang baru... dompet udah kayak alien gitu, terus tas selempang yang sekarang terlalu gede (berat juga) kalo mau dibawa jalan-jalan... maaf yah buat bonyok... anakmu ini sudah boros banget... waaaa... T.T

Please Help Me Kill This Boredom!

2008-05-14T17:44:00.006+08:00

Haduh, special semester itu ternyata ngebosenin banget ya.

Gw ada kelas tiap hari Selasa sampe Kamis, masing-masing dari jam setengah 2 sampe jam 4. Sisanya? Gw free. Palingan setiap malem ada rosario. Tapi tetep aja, waktu senggang gw masih jauh lebih banyak daripada waktu yang kepake.

Gw pingin ngisi kekosongan waktu ini nih. Minggu lalu, gw beli woodworks (pramodel 3D yang dari kayu) kecil bentuk tupai, tapi selesainya cepet banget. Gw pingin beli yang agak gedean, tapi harganya mahal. Gw pingin maen bowling, tapi kalo keseringan, tabungan bisa bocor. Aduuhhh... serba salah.

Mungkin yang paling ideal buat gw itu jalan-jalan. Atau maen badminton. Atau berenang. Atau jogging. Atau fotografi. Masalahnya, gw males kalo ngerjain itu semuanya SENDIRI. Gw pingin ada yg nemenin. Sama aja kalo sendiri doang sih, bakalan bosen juga. Gw perlu seseorang untuk nemenin jalan-jalan. Atau maen badminton. Atau berenang. Atau jogging. Atau motret-motret. Dan orang yang cukup seneng sama SEMUA yang gw sebut tadi... Dennice sama Maria. Sayangnya, Dennice punya banyak banget kerjaan (visual arts society, T-Spray, student assistant HSS [school of humanities and social sciences] library), sementara Maria sore ini udah pulang ke Indo (hari Senin dia bakalan balik ke Singapore). Arrggghhhh!

Yah, jadi kerjaan gw cuma: [pagi] baca-baca lecture notes astronomy, maen Pokemon, maen Call of Duty, [siang] kalo ada lecture astronomy ya gw ikut kelas, kalo ga ada, lanjut maen Pokemon atau Call of Duty, [sore] maen Pokemon, maen Call of Duty, chatting, nungguin rosario, [malem] rosario, kongko-kongko sama anak-anak bunga matahari habis rosario. Udah, gitu doang. Gilaaaa... gimana gw ga lumutan di kamar? Saban hari, aktivitas gw bener-bener ga punya diversity! I need to do something!

Kalo udah gini (kayak sekarang nih), gw cuma bisa nunggu sampe hari Minggu dateng. Kenapa? Karena itu berarti ke gereja dan ketemu sama temen-temen! Duh, tapi gereja Minggu besok kayaknya ga akan terlalu rame. Maria pulang. Tommy pulang. Riandy pulang. Yang sisa cuma gw, Dennice, sama Surya. Apa gw minta ke mereka supaya kita jangan langsung pulang habis dari gereja ya? Apa harus jalan-jalan dulu ke mana gitu biar ga bosen di kamar? Apa mendingan kita gereja di St. Mary yang agak jauhan dikit ya? Haduh, pusing.

Gw sih udah bikin janji, hari Jumat pagi mau jogging bareng Dennice sama Adi. Terakhir kali, joggingnya keputus di tengah-tengah gara-gara angin kenceng nan dingin. Berhentilah kita di kantin NIE, kongko-kongko di sana dari jam 8 sampe jam 11. Lumayan juga sih buat ngisi waktu, tapi bukan berarti gw pingin ada angin kenceng pas jogging (yang berarti joggingnya batal).

Somebody, help me!!! Awwww... T.T

Hustle and Bustle

2008-05-12T17:35:00.007+08:00

Woo-hoo! Akhirnya nulis post lagi! Setelah sekitar setengah bulan ga nulis-nulis... hehe...

Pertama gw harus minta maaf dulu, gw ga nulis karena ga ada waktu... rencananya kan pertama mau nulis setelah selese exam organic chemistry, tapi udah kecapean duluan... terus gw juga harus belajar untuk exam anatomy & physiology besok lusanya... hueeee... stress... setelah exam anatomy & physiology, gw disibukkan dengan kerjaan prom night yang hampir bisa dibilang brutal (sori ya Wenty), nganterin tiket, bikin dekorasi prom, rapat T-Spray (acara budaya Indo di NTU), pasang-pasang dekor prom di venue, acara promnya sendiri, misa Pentekosta, outing kelompok rosario Bunga Matahari, sama ngurusin acara ulang tahunnya Cumi (Dennice). See? Minimal, gw punya 9 aktivitas dalam 7 hari. Haduh... tambah lagi, gw ada kelas astronomy setiap Selasa ampe Kamis, jam 13.30 ampe 16.30. Wow!

Anyway, toh gw udah terbebas dari sebagian besar aktivitas yang gw sebut tadi.

*karena gw males nulis dalam bracket untuk ngebedain Cumi Dennice sama Cumi Laurent, mulai dari sini gw bakalan nulis nama aslinya aja deh*

Terus terang, acara prom itu makan waktu gw banyak banget seminggu kemarin. Mungkin gara-gara gw harus ngumpulin foto-foto dari temen-temen final year, terus harus gw jadiin flashback video. Aaaahhh! Gw ga bisa apa-apa waktu itu. Untung, untung aja, Dennice bersedia bantuin gw. Karena gw udah nentuin supaya by Rabu videonya udah harus selese (gw ga mau ngundur-ngundur lagi karena gw tau tugas seminggu itu bakalan banyak banget), gw squatting di kamar Dennice, bikin video dari malem ampe siang, dibantuin sama Sidharta (temennya yang kebetulan lagi maen ke NTU)... aduh, gw ngerasa ga enak banget udah ngerepotin mereka. Gw bahkan hampir skip lecture astronomy LAGI... kemarennya aja gw udah skip gara-gara harus jagain kamar yang lagi dibersihin sama orang dari hall. Untuk bales budi, gw kasih Dennice sama Sidharta snack, masing-masing 2 bungkus nori Tao Kae Noi plus Cheezels atau potato chips. Thanks a lot, guys! Not even a thousand words of thanks are barely enough for you! ^.^

Aktivitas berat berikutnya itu bikin dekorasi untuk prom. Karena para komite bikin dekornya ga di venuenya, yang ada kita sempet berdebat tentang ukuran sama bentuk pelangi dekorasi. Gw ampe stress mikirin harus diapaen ini karton-karton sama styrofoam yang bertebaran di lounge 3B... ampe pada akhirnya Edo, Laurent, Wenty, Louise dateng. Yeah, back-up artillery dateng (duh geje, gara-gara tadi maen Call of Duty, masih kebawa gini)... akhirnya, meskipun perlu waktu yang ga sedikit, bikin dekor selesai! Ehhh... waktu jalan pulang ke hall 9, diculik sama anak-anak bunga matahari. Diajakin makan ke kantin A. Ya udah, gw sih ikut-ikut aja. Toh gw juga belum makan waktu itu. Jadilah kita makan McD di sana, terus pulangnya ke pesta ulang tahun Meri di ADM (school of art, design, and media).

Perhentian berikutnya itu acara prom night sendiri, yang dikasih nama Cheerio Night 2008. Rasa-rasanya, acara ini paling bikin cape, fisik dan mental... pertama, panitia harus keluar kamar jam 10.30 untuk makan bareng, dan ga pulang-pulang lagi sampe minimal jam 11. Kedua, video yang udah dibikin sempet ga jalan menjelang diputer, jadi harus dirender ulang. Ketiga, setelah dirender, videonya lupa dicompress, jadi makan memory sampe 19.5 GB dan laptop gw malah crash. Keempat, ternyata dekor yang paling susah dibuat malah terkesan ga kepake. Haduh... pukulan bertubi-tubi. Untung pada akhirnya acara berjalan lancar, thanks to kerja sama antar portfolio, terutama programmer (Edo, Cia) sama logistik (Laurent, Kris, Irving)... sedap deh! Setelah acaranya selesai, gw, Edo, Cia, Clement, Oliv, sama Louise karaoke bareng. Gratis lho, hehe. Cuma 1 jam sih, tapi lumayanlah untuk refreshing setelah segala macem cape-capean sebelumnya. Pulangnya, suara pada habis semua XD

Foto main committee Cheerio Night 2008

Besoknya, setelah misa Pentekosta, kelompok rosario gw (yang dinamain "Bunga Matahari" sama Yossy) bikin outing, makan steamboat di Bugis. Wahhh... seru banget deh, biarpun yang ikut juga cuma sebagian (gw, Maria, Dennice, Riandy, Surya, Tommy, Tonton, Yossy, Fitri, Gunce). Restorannya kecil, sampe-sampe setengah dari restoran itu keisi sama bunga matahari. Ribut banget pokoknya. Mumpung steamboatnya buffet, kita pesen, pesen, pesen, pesen terus, sampe katanya sih yang punya restoran udah KO sama kita... hahahaha... meja udah sampe berantakan, kuah di mana-mana, kaki kepiting keluar dari stove, udah kayak setting film horor aja. Selesai makan, kita bikin surprise untuk Dennice, birthday boy! Kue yang dari awal udah disiapin, dikeluarin dari persembunyiannya. Katanya sih si Dennice ga nyadar kalo kita bawa kue. Baguslah, berarti surprisenya berhasil =)

Setelah misa Pentekosta di Church of St. Francis of Assisi

Outing kelompok rosario Bunga Matahari sekaligus surprise untuk Dennice

Malemnya, lagi-lagi ultah Dennice dirayain, kali ini yang skala besar. Pertama sempet bingung juga, gimana caranya ngajakin si birthday boy untuk ke hall 16 (blok 16E), karena dia tinggalnya di hall 5. Jauh banget. Kalo gw tiba-tiba ngajakin ke hall 16 kan pasti dia curiga bakalan ada sesuatu. Jadi, gw bilangnya... setelah rosario bakalan ada rapat internal T-Spray antara hall IC, finance manager, sama publicity & publication untuk ngebahas masalah Indosupper. Eh, pas kita (gw, Dennice, Cia, Surya) udah nyampe di sana, ternyata belum siap. Akhirnya kita maen-maen dulu ke music room di blok 16B, sampe dikasih tau kalo acaranya udah siap. Surprise, surprise. Si Dennice bener-bener ga nyangka, katanya, kalo ulang tahunnya bakalan dirayain lagi pas malem. So, kita bersenang-senang deh di sana... pulangnya, gw minta Dennice untuk mampir ke kamar dulu, ngambil hadiah (puzzle Piplup) titipan dari Sidharta.

Ulang tahun Dennice yang skala besar

Dan itu menandakan akhir dari weekend yang amat sangat menyenangkan. Meskipun hectic, tapi gw ngerasa kalo weekend kemaren itu bener-bener enjoyable. Mungkin karena banyak melibatkan temen-temen deket. Mungkin karena penyertaan mereka. Hmmm... gw harap setiap weekend gw bisa diisi dengan kegiatan-kegiatan yang menyenangkan barengan temen-temen. Maybe that will add more shades of hue into my life ^.^

Materials Science and Art Exhibition

2008-04-26T00:28:00.008+08:00

Phew... it was very tiring... I just got home...

Yesterday (note the date-line above) I did my materials science paper. It comprised only one part, all by Prof. Philip Cheang. I didn't know how to describe it; was it a battle? Or was it a turmoil of mind?

The questions were supposed not to be difficult. Almost every points in the paper were covered in the lecture notes. Yet... since the lecture notes themselves weren't very lucid, I got trouble studying. I decided to study from the textbook... and found that it was way easier and more comprehensible. Well, since I skipped ALL lectures about phase diagram, and the notes from that part couldn't be anymore convoluted than they already were, I got no choice but to self-study from the book. And hey, it wasn't that hard.

BUT... there were unexpected questions. One, describe—with sketch—the mechanism of propagation of microscopic striations. Two, discuss the change of the profile on solidus line if a metal alloy is to be cooled from the liquidus line to the solidus line. Just what on earth were those questions? The former was still ok, but the latter... Maria said that if you hadn't attended the lecture on phase diagram, you wouldn't be able to answer it. I guess it held true.

Anyway... after the exam, I ate ayam penyet, just to kill some time, at Broadway Foodcourt. It was nice... one serving of it only costs $3, and also quite satiating. I must say, it's a good alternative if you can't go out to Bukit Batok, Orchard, whatever. And what's more, it can save you a considerable amount of money... hahaha...

Afterwards, responding to Cumi's (Dennice's) invitation the day before to enjoy an art exhibition and have dinner, I went down to ADM (school of art, design, and media), his school.

I was a bit late, but the dinner hadn't started yet, so I was given a small tour by Cumi to observe the magnificent exhibits. Not long, Tommy and Charlie came to join. We took wine. It was delicious, but... Tommy couldn't stand it, so he gave me ALL his wine (he still got half a glass of it), which made me very dizzy. I had to dump it, darn... it was ok though, after all they gave the wine for free... =P

We then watched a movie screening boasting the skills of animation students. The screening itself was splendid, but took too long. Tommy repeatedly complained and said how he longs for food. So, to keep him (and me) contented, we rushed for food as soon as the screening was over.

There were all sorts of food, ranging from sushi to pasta. Too bad for us, the sushi had been swept clean when we were still watching the animation screening! Aaaahh... so we had to try something else. Didn't matter though; there was abundant food.

And so... we finished eating. Tommy and Charlie went back, while Cumi and I stayed. We went around to see more exhibits. Cumi showed me the studios of ADM; they are used for painting class. He said that there's always a model for the painting session, either a man or a woman... and sometimes, if you are lucky enough to have a woman model, there are some chance that she would be nude... huaaa... *pining mode on*

After seeing all exhibits, we took a rest on the student lounge, went to the pond, and played with a Swiss ball taken from the pond. We even took a photo of ourselves... so twisted.

Cumi, playing Swiss ball. Posted without his permission =P

All of these were done just to wait for Astrini's birthday party, which dragged for almost 1 hour.

After a period of waiting, finally the party took place. It was so amusing; Astrini and Jimot performed a duet. They sang Fixing a Broken Heart, just like when they were auditioned for T-Spray musical. It's not common to see such things here, you know... so moments like those have to be enjoyed... =)

And so here I am, lethargic. I could have written more if I didn't have exam on Monday. Aaaahhh... organic chemistry sucks...

See you next post, hopefully on Monday. Lest I can't, I'll be sure to post after anatomy & physiology exam.

Engineering Physics

2008-04-22T13:12:00.006+08:00

The battle was unexpectedly hard...

Again, the paper comprised 2 parts. Number 1 and 2 were the manifestation of Prof. Lee Kijoon's mind, while number 3 and 4 Prof. Björn Neu's.

Prof. Lee's part was conceptual, with a few calculation-type problems. Most of them are of a-little-bit-hard difficulty level (yet he assigned equal marks, 5 points, for each question), and I was really clueless at the beginning, "What should I do with this?" Well, at least I managed to answer all the questions, albeit some of them might have been only garbled scribblings. Only heaven knows. What's worse, I fell victim to a simple, stupid mistake... ok, I have written Xc = Xl, and derived 1/2πfC = 2πfL from there. I stupidly CANCEL the 2πf out... and I didn't realize it, not until the very last second... I managed to correct the value of capacitance by setting C = 1/[L(2πf)^2], but still didn't have enough time to calculate the capacitor reactance needed for impedance... so careless and stupid...

Prof. Neu's part was pretty much the focus of this paper. His mark-assignment was more brutal (e.g. there was one that weighed 10 marks) than that of Prof. Lee's; consequently there were far fewer questions. Although not as convoluted as the first part, of course, the problems were still difficult and, in fact, able to provoke bafflement. The questions themselves were not easy to perceive, and again, I was left partially perplexed. Again, I managed to answer all questions, but still... chances are what I wrote on the answer book was more of refuse. Aaahh...

Pretty frustrated, I left the exam hall. Although I knew that it was over and we couldn't seem to make any difference despite our reaction, I was still a little bit more than down.

We could only pray and wait for the results to be released, not forgetting to hope for the best...

Mathematics for Engineers B

2008-04-18T18:35:00.014+08:00

A big battle for my first exam in semester 2...

The maths paper comprised 2 parts. The first 4 numbers were Prof. Wang Xin's crafts of art, while the last 4 numbers Prof. Xu Rong's.

Prof. Wang's part, albeit not very easy, was humane. The problem set was very similar to that of last year's. The most irritating fact was that his part was more of a game of plus / minus signs; that is, a small mistake in sign could be outright fatal. As for myself, I nearly calculated -∂F/∂y (note the minus sign) where F = 3x^2 - 8y^2 as -16y, while it should have been 16y. Sigh... I was lucky I spotted that sick little mistake before the time was up...

Prof. Xu's part... this was the nightmare of all candidates. She--a brainy, beautiful beast--is infamous for "unleashing" notorious, near-impossible-to-solve problems on the previous quiz (hence the nickname "beast"), and on this exam, that was no exception. She was made even more infamous for her dastardly Laplacian. The equation seemed so much to be lacking necessary boundary conditions... many couldn't solve the problem. I've heard some students complained how Prof. Xu ruthlessly attacked them with her upper-half plane Laplacian. I myself could only cover 2 of 4 from her part.

Yet... now it's no use to mourn on our mistakes. It's become a sunk cost. What we can do now is to expect yet another battle. Knowing that, we should prepare ourselves hard to confront the remaining exams.

At least, from now on, SCBE freshies can speak about maths in past tense.

Good luck everyone on your exam! GBU! ^.^

P.S.: For those taking Physics exam and wasn't sure about the outcome, cheer up! Many said that the paper was hellish, so chances are the standard will not be very high as well. You can still score an A+! =)

I Hate Fogging!

2008-04-16T11:58:00.004+08:00

The title itself is self-explanatory.

I do hate fogging. The smoke inevitably seeps in my room through small gaps above and under the door and windows. My room smells horrendous. My blanket, pillow, bolster, and bedcover do too. My saucepan, bowl, mug, spoon, and fork are contaminated. Even worse, my clothes--which are being dried--are literally SMOKED! Arghhh...

Wait... they always fog when my clothes are being dried! Oh, shit... I hate this...

I know... I know it's done as a precaution against dengue fever, malaria, or many other nasty maladies... but still... T_T

I guess it can't be helped after all... it's better to wear a horribly dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane-smelling clothes rather than having myself troubled with dengue fever, despite DDT possessing its own danger...

He Saves

2008-04-15T15:28:00.009+08:00

I found this humor in the November 2007 issue of the Canticle, NTUCSA's bulletin. I think I can share it with you. I edited it though to add more spices onto it.

Oh, it's slightly religious in nature, so please bear with it.

Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly, God was tired of hearing all the bickering.

Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough."

"I am going to give you a test that will run for two hours. From the results, I will judge who does the better job!"

So, Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They faxed. They emailed. They emailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports. They did every job known to man. Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off. Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers.

Satan searched frantically, screaming, "IT'S ALL GONE!!! I lost everything when the power went out!!!"

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate.

"Wait!" he screamed, "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any!?"

Seeing that Satan could not accept his loss, God said, "It is simple... he does something you do not."

Satan asked, "What? What's that supposed to be?"

God just shrugged and said again, "Jesus SAVES..."

Vocation

2008-04-13T12:57:00.005+08:00

Hi there. I don't know why, but lately I've been slightly more insightful to these things commonly referred to as "values of life". If you see my recent posts, chances are you recognized their reflective and spiritual nature, also as indicated by the tags "Spiritual", "Life", and "Friendship".

Now, to the main course of this post...

Yesterday (and this morning) I attended the Mass of the 4th Sunday of Easter. Fr. Michal Gitner, one of my favorite priests, elaborated on the homily the importance of this special work--or should I say in more appropriate word, commitment--called vocation.

What is this vocation? What makes it singular, or distinctive, relative to that usual work?

According to the Encarta Dictionary, vocation can be comprehended in two senses:

1. somebody's work, job, or profession, especially a type of job demanding special commitment

2. a strong feeling of being destined or called to undertake a specific type of work, especially a sense of being chosen by God for religious work or a religious life

What the dictionary says is of no difference from what Fr. Michal opined during both Masses. From how he elucidated his views, one could observe that he is outright serious in taking his vocation. He also told us how his family deeply influenced his spiritual life... that made each and every attendant--who, at the moment, was able to visualize or take a glimpse on his family--believe that he came from a faith-affluent family. This holds true, after all.

Fr. Michal seemed to be very proud of his family. He described them as being "down-to-earth faithful", and how they ignited sparks of religious life within him. He recalled, "... I remember every 4.05 in the evening, my family would kneel and pray. They are not fanatical, no; they simply practice Catholic faith..." That's what vocation is, the nearly 50-years-old priest said: to immerse yourself in commitment and to take what you do seriously. "To be a priest... that's also a vocation. So is to live a married life... and to be single," he said. As a trivia, he also expressed how he revels in spending his holiday with his parents and sister.

Now, we should refer back to the fundamental sense of vocation: to be extremely committed to carry out our activities. When we put it that way, we can associate almost everything with vocation. Take our responsibility as students, for instance. Most probably, only a handful of us realize that this particular case can actually be considered a vocation. Many fail to understand the very basic meaning of the process of learning itself, since they have shifted orientation into "taking education for granted". Some are committed, but it is not as an endeavor to seek for the paramount. And if one is claimed by others to be steadfast to be able to sprout the best flower, not for failing to see their true significance... glad are they.

Why is it that this process can be considered a vocation? Well, simply because it requires a fervent commitment, continuously from time to time. You may ask, "Big deal. What happens if we do have that commitment?" It is rhetorical, isn't it? Let us instead elaborate on what does not happen with that commitment; or maybe, for sake of common sense, what happens if we do not have that commitment. All of us must have heard various cases of people dropping out their education, deviating from their purposes of studying, or even getting themselves reeled in a string of educational concerns. These three horrendous cases are but a tiny wee bit of all plausible consequences of not having the aforementioned commitment. Take this process of learning seriously and selflessly, and chances are we have the right to thrive and blossom. As we immerse ourselves in the progress, we gradually pick up all those cognizance offered by the spring of wisdom itself, which, in turn, aids us in developing our acumen and broadening our horizon.

The instance of learning above was just one of the many cases we can consider a vocation. Now, why don't we try to reflect on our own commitment, and find out if it is apt enough to be taken into account as our own present vocation.

God bless all of us =)

Wheel of Life

2008-04-10T23:02:00.004+08:00

Hari ini aku melewati quiz anatomy & physiology.

Dalam mengerjakan soalnya, aku salah antara 15 - 20 soal dari 50 soal. Sementara aku berpikir, "Itu karena aku kurang belajar." Kemudian aku berpikir. Mereka yang biasanya mendapat nilai yang bagus. Mereka yang jauh superior di atasku. Beban yang mereka pikul sangat berat. Beban psikologis. Beban emosional. Pikiran-pikiran yang mengganggu, "Mau ke mana kamu jika nilaimu jatuh? Di mana akan kamu sembunyikan mukamu?"

Aku memang bukan tipe orang yang terlalu peduli akan nilai. Terus terang, aku termasuk orang yang puas dengan hasil yang termasuk pas-pasan. Aku tahu bahwa itu tidak baik untukku. Namun, dari sini, aku melihat sisi lain dari sebuah perjuangan... bagaimana seseorang (katakanlah, orang itu adalah kamu) harus menyokong nilainya yang sudah bagus itu? Kamu harus berjuang dengan segenap tenaga, bukan? Sebab, dengan nilai yang bagus itu, kemungkinan untuk menjadi lebih baik jauh lebih kecil dibandingkan dengan kemungkinan untuk tergusur ke tempat yang menurutmu lebih tidak layak, atau dengan sangat kasar kita bisa mengatakan bahwa "orang-orang yang nilainya bagus tidak bisa ke mana-mana lagi selain turun". Dan itulah akibatnya jika mereka tidak berjuang untuk mempertahankan nilainya.

Namun, seperti seorang teman katakan kepadaku, sebagaimana roda terus berputar, kehidupan pun berputar. Ada kalanya kita menikmati angin segar di atas roda, ada kalanya kita terhimpit di bawah roda. Hidup adalah kumpulan dari berbagai macam siklus. Dengan merasakan bagaimana sakitnya terhimpit roda tersebut, kita berusaha untuk menjadi lebih baik lagi. Sebagaimana pensil harus selalu diraut agar tetap runcing dan besi harus ditempa agar keras, sesekali manusia pun harus dipaparkan kepada pengalaman pahit untuk mencapai pengalaman baik. "No pain, no gain," ujar sebuah pepatah. Positif dan negatif yang bagaikan antimateri satu sama lain itu sangat penting; sebagai contoh, jika tidak ada "kesalahan", maka kita tidak akan pernah mengetahui "kebenaran".

Appreciativeness

2008-04-09T20:51:00.003+08:00

Thanks to them, I have the opportunity to...

Be acquainted to many people,
Join many commitments,
Be motivated to study,
Express my problems,
Correct my mistakes,
Recognize my weaknesses,
Learn about life,
Elaborate my thoughts,
Share laughters and tears.

I wonder, if they would...

Console me when I'm woeful?
Rejoice with me when I'm cheerful?
Be proud of me when I get to the top?
Uplift me when I flop?
Support me when I'm veracious?
Forgive me when I'm erroneous?
Play with me when I'm well?
Visit me when I'm ill?
Cheer at my living?
Weep over my passing?

Later today,
In the silence of the dusk,
In the shadow of the dark,
In the depth of the night,
In the absence of the light,
Let me use some time to pray,
So that our friendship may never stray.

Especially dedicated to them:
A*****o (7 letters), "brother"
Y*****a (7 letters), "sister"
M****a (6 letters)
Y******n (8 letters)
M***a (5 letters)
D*****e (7 letters)
S*****n (7 letters)
K***n (5 letters)
R***y (5 letters)

A Morning Reflection

2008-04-09T05:44:00.012+08:00

Hmm... mau sedikit berbagi pengalaman unik aja...

Semalem, gw tidur antara jam 1.05 - 1.14, soalnya post terakhir gw di milis GL itu jam 1.05, dan pas bangun terus ngecek milis, post berikutnya itu time stampnya jam 1.14, dari Eddyman. Di dalem doa tidur gw, gw bilang ke Tuhan, kalo besok (hari ini) gw mau belajar di library dan gw minta tolong dibangunin jam 7 ato sebelum jam 7. Di dalem doa gw juga ada format doa seperti biasa: makasih atas berkat, minta perlindungan sepanjang malem, doa untuk keluarga, doa untuk sahabat-sahabat, dan minta supaya persahabatan gw ama orang yang gw lagi ada masalah itu diperbaiki lagi.

Nah... yang menarik di sini, adalah ternyata gw bangun dengan seger jam setengah 6 pagi. Waaahhh... ga pernah ya seumur-umur, di Singapur, gw tidur cuma 5 jam dan bangun dengan seger... tanpa alarm... gw pasang alarm jam setengah 7 pagi untuk bantuin gw bangun ternyata malah bangun lebih pagi... kali ini gw bangun sebelum alarm bunyi, bukan alarm bunyi sebelum gw tidur (baca: gw baru tidur setelah alarm bunyi gara-gara malemnya begadang) =P

*paragraf berikutnya bakalan void kalo dicoba dimengerti pake science... jadi tolong semua pikiran tentang science--terutama psikologi ama fisiologi--mengenai tidur, mimpi, dan bangun dikesampingkan dulu... karena beberapa hal lebih baik dibiarkan tidak diketahui (gw suka kata-kata itu) =)*

Gw jadi berefleksi... kalo kita minta sesuatu ke Tuhan dalam doa, Dia ternyata pasti mendengar kita. Dan permintaan itu bakalan dikabulkan, bahkan terkadang jawaban dari permintaan kita itu bakalan dateng IN ABUNDANCE, tapi ternyata kita gagal untuk menyadari. Dan pagi ini... gw menganggap gw sendiri cukup beruntung untuk bisa mengalami sendiri bahwa Tuhan ternyata bersedia ngasih kita lebih dari yang kita harapkan dari Dia... dalam hal ini, gw diperbolehin bangun jam setengah 6 pagi. Wowww... dan ternyata setelah gw pikir-pikir, ada banyak hal lagi yang ga kita sadari, misalkan: [1) Kita cuma perlu oksigen untuk napas (bernapas di lingkungan pure oxygen itu ga masalah), dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita udara yang mengandung nitrogen, oksigen, dan gas-gas laen untuk dihirup... oleh semua makhluk: kita, binatang, tumbuhan, bakteri, dan microscopics laennya. 2) Kita perlu lingkungan untuk hidup, dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita alam di sekitar kita ini untuk kita olah. 3) Kita cuma perlu sekedar api untuk menerangi kegelapan, berlindung dari dinginnya malem, ama sumber energi, dan Tuhan udah ngasih kita Matahari untuk melakukan lebih dari itu.] 3 contoh ini cuma sebagian kecil dari kebutuhan kita yang dijawab in abundance... dan gw jadi inget lirik lagunya Marty Haugen, Canticle of the Sun, yang dibuat berdasarkan puisinya St. Francis of Assisi (St. Fransiskus Assisi)... terutama bagian versenya.

Refrain:

The heavens are telling the glory of God
And all creation is shouting for joy
Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field
And sing, sing to the glory of the Lord

Verses:

1. Praise for the Sun, the bringer of day
He carries the light of the Lord in his rays
The moon and the stars, who light up the way unto Your throne

2. Praise for the wind that blows through the trees
The seas' mighty storms, the gentlest breeze
...

3. Praise for the rain that waters our fields ...

4/5/6. Praise for the fire / earth / death ...

Intinya, lagu ini berisi ungkapan terima kasih seorang St. Francis of Assisi pada semua ciptaan Tuhan, meskipun ga selengkap puisi yang dia bikin. Kalo di puisinya, dia menganggap bahwa semua ciptaan itu sebagai sodara-sodaranya... bahkan, yang paling menarik, dia menganggap kematian itu sebagai "Sister Death". Kadang-kadang ini bikin gw merinding, bukan karena ngeri, tapi karena takjub... gimana bahkan St. Francis bener-bener memuji dan bersyukur atas the very Death herself... di mana orang laen pada takut dengan kehadirannya. Tapi gw ga akan bahas itu di sini; mungkin laen kali aja kalo kita punya waktu untuk song reflection laennya =)

Back to topic... dan begitu gw bangun, gw berdoa lagi untuk berterima kasih... bahwa gw udah dibangunin lebih pagi dari yang gw harapkan... dan gw juga minta berkat untuk gw, keluarga, ama sahabat-sahabat untuk melakukan aktivitas di hari ini... ga lupa gw berdoa juga untuk masalah yang lagi gw alami (sejak Minggu kemaren, gw selalu menyertakan masalah itu di dalem doa).

Jadi... yah, cobalah untuk ngeliat apa yang udah Dia berikan untuk kita... siapa tahu, Dia ternyata udah mengirim jawaban untuk permasalahan kita di sekitar kita dengan jumlah yang banyak... tapi kitanya aja yang ga nyadar... semoga pengalaman ini bikin gw lebih aware dengan keadaan sekitar kita dan apa yang ada di dalemnya.

Selamat pagi dunia! Sambutlah sinar emas Matahari dengan senyum! God bless you all! ^.^

A Quote

2008-04-08T21:09:00.001+08:00

"In friendship one cannot expect everything to be filled with laughter; sometimes it is the tears that strengthen the bond itself."

~ Randy Williams Hidayat

Thank you Randy for telling me these words...

Lazily Busy Day

2008-04-08T00:18:00.006+08:00

Aaaahhh...

Ga tau kenapa, akhir-akhir ini gw agak males nulis pake bahasa Inggris. Mungkin gara-gara gw terlalu stres belajar sampe-sampe ga bisa mikir untuk terjemahin dari bahasa Indo ke Inggris dengan grammar yang bener. Too much trouble =P

Hari ini gw rasanya males banget. Padahal pas pagi udah bangun jam 8, udah ada niat untuk belajar anatomy-physiology yang bakalan di-quiz-in hari Kamis besok... tapi malah ga belajar sama sekali. Akhirnya gw malah ngedesign tiket buat acara prom night. Hahaha...

Ehh... ternyata gw baru inget ga beberapa lama kemudian, kalo lab report gw belum gw kerjain SAMA SEKALI. Padahal dikumpulnya hari ini juga. Aduuuhhh... akhirnya ya gw cuma bergantung seadanya dari hasil ngelab minggu lalu... itu tentang baja dipanasin sampe 880 centigrade, habis itu langsung dicelupin ke air, didinginin. Habis itu kekuatan bajanya dites pake Charpy impact test. Caranya agak menarik. Jadi batang baja itu dibentangin di tengah-tengah lintasan bandul super gede, terus alatnya dinyalain. Bandulnya bakalan ngayun... terus, tebak. Batang bajanya bakalan kepukul sama bandulnya dan patah jadi dua. Kereeeen! *lagi sadis*

Anyway... setelah gw ngerjain lab report (yang hasilnya juga cuma seadanya), gw lanjut bikin design tiket, dikasih advice dari Louise, Wenty, sama Clement... designnya gw bikin berdasarkan angan-angannya Cia... pake kupu-kupu yang melintas pelangi... hahaha... sayangnya gw ga bisa pajang di sini, takut aja ada yang ngeprint terus dipake jadi tiket palsu deh... huhuhu... parno gini... nanti kalo acaranya udah selesai, gw post di sini deh.

Design tiket akhirnya selesai. Rencana gw selanjutnya, ngumpulin lab report ke gedung BIE (bioengineering). Gw udh siap untuk jalan keluar... ah, tapi gw baru inget. Gw belum mandi dari pagi... hehehe... secara gw belum sempet keluar-keluar kamar sejak bangun tadi, yah jadi gini deh (emang pada dasarnya udah males sih =P)... ya udah, akhirnya gw mandi juga, biarpun udah jam setengah 4 sore... =)

Gw berangkat. Gw jalan ke shuttle bus stop ADM (art, design, media), nunggu di sana agak lama sambil ngeliatin hasil lab report gw yang kacau tapi tetep gw kerjain serapi mungkin. Akhirnya bus dateng, dan gw udah keringetan gara-gara panas (tambah lagi gw pake jaket SCBE [school of chemical and biomedical engineering] yang super tebel itu karena nantinya gw bakalan ke freezing hell: library). Apesnya, bus itu udah bobrok dan ga ada belnya. Orang-orang yang mau turun di kantin A sih ga perlu panik, karena di sana pasti busnya berhenti. Di kantin A kan banyak banget orang yang mau naik bus. Nah, masalahnya, bus stop paling deket sama gedung BIE itu ada di depan gedung CBE (chemical and biochemical engineering), itu sepi banget. Ga ada orang sama sekali di bus stopnya. Gw berdiri, ambil ancang-ancang untuk turun, tapiiiii... supirnya ngelewatin bus stopnya. Yah, sial, pikir gw. Alhasil, gw harus turun di stop berikutnya, di SBS (school of biological sciences) dan jalan agak jauh. Nasib, nasib.

Habis ngumpulin lab report, gw ngeprint tiket prom nite di library, bareng Clement. Lancar-lancar aja sih, ga ada sesuatu yang terlalu noteworthy. Jadi, habis selese ngeprint dan gunting-gunting tiketnya, gw berencana makan di kantin A yang baru, tapi... gilaaaaa, ramenya... mau ngantri Subway, udah kayak ular naga panjangnya bukan kepalang. Mau McD juga sama aja. Mau The Palette (western food gitu), rame bener. Aduuuhhh... ga jadi makan deh. Ya udah, pada akhirnya gw pulang. Sedih... niat makan di sana ga kesampean...

Gw sampe di kamar jam 7. Di jalan, gw ketemu ama Surya (yang jurusan ADM). Dia nanya hari ini ada novena ato ga, dan gw jawab ga ada. Kita ngobrol sampe depan ADM, terus misah; dia ke ADM, gw ke arah hall 9. Pas gw sampe kamar, Maria sms gw, nanyain hari ini ada novena ato ga. Gw udah mau jawab "ga ada" aja, tapi kok tiba-tiba gw jadi mikir, beneran ga ada ato malah ada ya? Akhirnya gw sampe nanya Stefi, Tonton, ama Fitri, dan tiga-tiganya jawab ada. Mati dah... gw udh bersaksi palsu sama Surya, hahaha... gw langsung minta nomernya dia dari si Cumi dan bilang kalo ternyata hari ini ada novena... konyol banget... =P

Sekitar jam setengah 9, Chankoi dateng ke kamar gw. Katanya dia mau ngungsi, habis berenang. Cape banget. Keliatan sih dari mukanya kalo dia worn-out banget. Tapi toh di kamar gw dia cuma baca-baca sedikit novel Stardust ama Tunnels gw, terus habis itu ke bawah. Kayaknya sih mau nyari minum di vending machine. Ga berapa lama, dia balik ke kamar gw sambil ngos-ngosan (maklum, kamar gw di lantai 5). Terus dia bilang, dia mau nungguin novena di lounge aja, sambil baca koran. Lanjutlah gw chatting ama Yossy.

Novena udah mau tiba. Gw jalan ke lounge, di sana udah ada Chankoi ama Stefi. Makin lama makin banyak orang yang dateng... ada Fitri, Jelly, Maria, Tommy, Monci, Wahyu, Gunce, Yossy, Surya, Tonton, Wilson, Wira, ama Dion. Totalnya sama gw ada 16 orang. Wow... baru sekarang gw sadar, rame juga ya... kayaknya tadi ga serame itu deh... dan akhirnya kelompok doa bunga matahari (nama kelompok doa anak-anak hall 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, ama ADM) memulai novenanya... =)

Habis novena, gw nemenin Tonton di lounge, sementara yang laen udah pada balik. Kasian aja ditinggal sendirian gitu, habis Yossy katanya mau ngambil exam wishes yang ketinggalan di kamarnya buat dibagi-bagiin di hallnya Tonton. Ya udah, gw tungguin dia ampe Yossy balik lagi. Pas udah balik, gw ke kamar Gunce buat ngambil titipan daging saos tiram ama spaghetti alfredo yang dikirimin nyokap. Masih enak... jadi gw angetin dan gw makan, sambil ngobrol ama Maria tentang masalah yang lagi gw alamin (liat post gw sebelum ini) dan ngebales-balesin email junk yang SUPER GA PENTING (tapi gw juga seneng ngejunk)... mumpung masih bisa bersenang-senang sebelum exam; ntar pas exam udah ga bisa lagi... hahaha... =P

Sekarang gw ngantuk banget deh jadinya. Ga sempet tidur siang sih tadi... sibuk banget... huhuhu... padahal hari ini niatnya belajar anatomy-physiology, eh malah ga kesentuh sama sekali lecture notesnya... wah, jadi ngerasa bersalah... dan gw malah makin menyulitkan posisi gw yang emang dari awalnya udah sulit... huhuhu... gini nih jadi orang males yang kebanyakan komitmen (jadi panitia macem-macem)... tapi gw yakin kok gw masih bisa keep up sama urusan sekolah... hahaha... soalnya gw emang suka sih gabung-gabung di kepanitiaan gitu... bisa ketemu temen, bisa jadi pengalaman untuk kerja, bisa juga untuk ngelatih leadership... ^.^

Gw bakalan tidur dulu deh... ngantuk banget nih... kalo tidur jam segini, mungkin ga ya besok pagi gw bangun jam 6 gitu? Soalnya belakangan ini gw tidur jam 2-3 gitu bangunnya jam 8... udah kebawa kali ya sama hari Kamis dan Sabtu lalu... ada quiz pagi-pagi, jadi harus bangun pagi juga... huhuhu... tapi belakangan gw belajar untuk ga melawan kebutuhan biologis, eh gw jadi bisa bangun lebih seger dan tanpa alarm lho... =)

Trivia nih, Minggu kemaren gw maen bowling. Frame 1 gw dapet strike langsung. Wah, seneng. Frame 2 ampe 4 juga gw spare terus, frame 5 strike lagi. Wahhhh, tambah seneng deh gw. Ehhhh... frame 6 ampe 8 malah mengacau parah... jadi kecil-kecil banget deh nilainya. Frame 9 gw spare. Frame 10-1 gw strike. Seneng bangetttt! Eh, frame 10-2 strike lagi! Gw bilang ke Edo ama Randy, ini exam gw bisa hancur lebur hokinya gw pake di bowling semua. Frame 10-3-nya... bolanya kena paha gw, terus langsung melenceng ke got kanan. Diketawain. Siake banget! Tapi untung aja skor gw masih bisa 118... meskipun kalo frame 10-3 itu kena bisa 130 lebih... hahaha... antiklimaks banget, di frame 10 tulisannya XX-... ga graceful dan ga glorious... hihihi... =P

Yuk ah, ngantuuuukkk... ciao!

A Letter to the Lord

2008-04-07T01:12:00.004+08:00

Tuhan,

Aku sudah berbuat kesalahan yang sangat parah... aku sudah meruntuhkan persahabatanku dengan seorang teman baik. Apa yang sudah aku perbuat...?

Betapa sekarang aku bersedih dalam kesendirian... hanya dapat menunggu hingga Sang Waktu menjahit kembali benang-benang yang terlepas dari persahabatan kami... tapi benang-benang itu sekarang sudah tersebar di mana-mana, dan aku tahu pasti, semuanya akan memerlukan waktu yang sangat lama bahkan untuk mengumpulkan mereka kembali. Dan sebagaimana pastinya ada benang yang luput dari pandangan Sang Waktu, akan ada pula kenangan dan momen yang terlupakan dari persahabatan kami akibat perbuatanku ini...

Sungguh, Tuhan, aku tidak bermaksud untuk berbuat seperti itu. Bahkan aku tidak menduga bahwa aku akan berbuat seperti itu. Namun, setelah mengetahui bahwa aku benar-benar melakukannya... aku seperti tidak dapat memaafkan diriku sendiri. Hingga sekarang pun aku masih bingung... apa yang harus aku lakukan? Hilanglah sudah semuanya. Aku tidak pantas lagi ia percaya.

Sekarang, yang bisa kulakukan adalah membuktikan bahwa aku benar-benar tidak bermaksud untuk melakukannya. Bantulah aku, Tuhan... semoga aku bisa berbuat baik untuknya... untuk semua orang... sebagai permintaan maafku padanya... siapa yang tahu jika aku tidak akan mendapat kesempatan lain untuk meminta maaf? Siapa yang tahu jika esok hari napasku sudah Engkau tarik kembali? Hanya Engkau yang tahu... dan jikalau aku memang tidak bisa menunjukkan bahwa aku menyesal atau ia tetap melihatku sebagai orang yang jauh dari perkiraannya... mungkin aku tidak akan pernah bisa memaafkan diriku sendiri.

Tuhan... meskipun aku tahu bahwa ini tidak mungkin, aku ingin kembali ke hari itu... untuk memperbaiki apa yang telah kuperbuat saat itu... dan menjalani hari-hari kami seperti sebelum semua masalah ini terjadi. Aku tidak ingin kehilangan siapa pun yang menjadi temanku, apalagi teman baik... aku sudah berkali-kali melewati masa kesepian, dan tahu bahwa perasaan sepi itu terus menusuk jiwaku... aku tidak mau hal ini terjadi dalam personifikasi yang lebih buruk lagi...

Aku percaya bahwa Engkau akan datang kepada siapa pun yang memanggil-Mu dalam masa kesulitan, dan akan membantunya... maka, terinspirasi oleh lirik dari sebuah lagu, aku berdoa kepada-Mu,

Ajarilah aku untuk menggunakan waktu yang kumiliki...
Ajarilah aku untuk tetap sabar meskipun berada dalam penantian...
Ajarilah aku untuk menerima semua kesenangan dan kepedihan...
Ajarilah aku untuk tidur dengan tenang dan bangun dengan bersemangat...
Sebab Engkaulah tempat bernaung dan harapanku sepanjang masa...

In every age, You have been our refuge... you have been our hope.

Anakmu,
Abhyasa Naradhipa

A Small Banquet, Full of Motherly Love

2008-04-05T01:20:00.003+08:00

Materials science and physics quiz are removed from to-do list! I'm not going to talk about the results. A big no... T_T

Today I received a packet from my mom. Inside, there were a serving of tuna spaghetti alfredo and oyster sauce beef! Yay! They were very sumptuous and superbly delicious! I love my mother's cooking! ^_^

But... the spaghetti and meat is way too much. I can't take it out by myself... hehe... so tomorrow I'm going to eat them with Yessica. She was very excited when I offered the savors to her, and said "Your mother is the best" (of course, it made me proud of my mother, having her acknowledged =P)... hahaha...

There were also LOADS of Chitato. They're primarily for Edo, as he once told me how he longed for one. Now he's getting his pining in abundance... I wonder if he can withstand all of them without sore throat? =)

Just as trivia, a few days ago I chatted with Yessica about the meaning of the word "alfredo", referring to Edo (whose nickname is derived from his first name, Alfredo). To my surprise, my mother sent me spaghetti alfredo! Coincidence? Hahaha... Edo should be glad of this...

The math quiz is today! I hope I can do well... I wish to exercise on more problems, but now I'm so sleepy. Maybe I'll take a little good-night sleep to revitalize myself...

See you then! ^_^

A Message

2008-04-03T12:56:00.003+08:00

Why are you so secretive over a thing that's not supposed to be a secret?

Do you know that it made me feel excluded?

Think over it again.

Refreshment

2008-04-03T02:37:00.002+08:00

Still studying for materials science... aaaaahhh...

For those preparing for upcoming quizzes and exam, I have a cute and interesting flash game to play. It's about engineering-planning. Try it! Here's the link:

http://shingakunet.com/special/16608701/0285/index.html

I must thank Wawan for giving us, GLs, this link. It's so captivating, yet pretty realistic. Enjoy! ^_^

They Misuse Their Need of Knowledge!

2008-04-02T13:10:00.007+08:00

WARNING: The following paragraph is a disclaimer. Read before you proceed. If you do not understand what the disclaimer says, or you cannot comply or accept the disclaimer, do not proceed to read the post. Otherwise, you may read, but at your own risk.

Sebelum gw nulis inti dari postingan ini, gw harus kasih tau para pembaca dulu bahwa postingan yg ini harus gw tulis pake bahasa Indo. Gw takut kalo postingan ini dibaca ama orang-orang yang gw maksud (mereka bukan orang Indo). Yah, mungkin bisa dibilang kalo gw ga berbicara secara open dan netral (in fact, hampir semua postingan gw ga netral), tapi postingan yang ini emang agak-agak offensive bagi mereka yang bakalan gw tulis di sini. Udah gitu, postingan ini bener-bener mencela satu pihak (tapi tanpa bermaksud untuk rasis ato gimana, karena yang gw tulis ini generally bener). Makanya gw ga berani tulis pake bahasa Inggris; semua orang kan pingin safeguard nama mereka =P

*** END OF DISCLAIMER ***
Yah, jadi, gw udah hampir satu tahun tinggal di Singapore, dan gw udah menemukan banyak banget jenis (bukan spesies =P) orang; dari yang bener-bener carefree ampe yang super kiasu (ga mau kalah; misalkan karena peer pressure, mereka juga ikut-ikutan belajar mati-matian karena ga mau kalah sama orang laennya yang pada belajar). Saking kiasunya mereka jadi ga sopan. Dan ini terjadi kemaren, pas gw ikut tutor mathematics.

Jadi ceritanya gw, Glenn, Itin, ama Cia lagi berusaha keras untuk ngerti apa yang lagi dijelasin sama tutornya, eh terus tiba-tiba di tengah-tengah dia lagi jelasin, ada OC (orang C***, maksudnya di sini yang C*** totok; orang yang dateng langsung dari negeri tirai bambu) yang keluar dari ruangan, bawa tas. Satu ruangan udah sampe ngeliatin dia gitu kayaknya. Si tutor sih tenang-tenang aja, tapi gw tau pasti di dalem hatinya dia ngerasa insulted banget dan ga dihargai. Pasti itu sakit banget. Si Glenn sampe bilang, "Itu orang ga sopan banget sih?"

Parahnya lagi, dia kayaknya nungguin di luar sampe tutor mathnya selese. Kok gw bisa bilang gitu? Soalnya pas tutor setelahnya (kimia) di ruangan yang sama, dia muncul lagi! Bahkan, sebelumnya, gw sempet keluar ruangan karena dingin, eh gw ngeliat dia dengan santainya ngobrol sama Kheng Kiong (tutor materials science). Parah banget deh. Dia sengaja keluar gitu ternyata pas math. Super gege.

Gw jadi mempertanyakan di dalem hati, apa sih maksudnya dia keluar tadi? Apa cuma untuk draw attention? Pamer ke orang-orang kalo dia udah bisa, jadi ga perlu ikut tutor lagi? Kalo emang gitu, kenapa dia masih aja ikut tutor? Keluar di tengah-tengah itu sama aja kaya ga menghargai tutornya, apalagi dia udah susah-susah jelasin soal nomer 1 ampe satu papan tulis aja ga cukup (solutionnya emang panjang banget)... gw rasa kalo dia emang udah ngerti, mendingan dari awal dia ga ikut aja, daripada ikut tapi terus nyakitin hati tutornya. Ok, gw tau dia bisa ngitung hasil dari akar 13.820984 tanpa kalkulator, tapi tetep aja kelakuan itu tuh ga sopan. Kalo emang mau keluar, kan bisa tunggu sampe tutorialnya selese? Najis.

Kiasu itu salah. Bener-bener salah. Meskipun dalam arti belajar, tetep aja salah. Kenapa? Soalnya driving force-nya bukan keinginan diri sendiri untuk belajar, tapi karena ga mau kalah sama orang laen. Orang-orang yang kiasu pada akhirnya cuma belajar only for granted. Mereka ga bisa ngeliat nilai belajar itu sendiri. Beda sama orang yang belajar karena emang mereka pingin pursue education. Makanya itu gw bener-bener ga suka kalo ada yang bilang gw kiasu. Gw ga kiasu. In fact, gw ini males banget. Jadi, ga ada alesan untuk bilang gw kiasu. Meskipun emang ada instance di mana gw melakukan suatu hal karena jealous sama orang laen yang bisa, gw berusaha untuk ngebuang jauh-jauh pikiran bahwa gw mau melakukan ini karena jealous. Kadang-kadang malah gw memilih untuk ga melakukan hal itu kalo alesannya cuma karena pikiran bahwa "kenapa dia bisa sementara gw ga bisa".

*paragraf tadi bener-bener opini gw, ga ada intensi untuk mencela ato bermaksud offensive terhadap orang laen; kalo ada yang merasa tersinggung, gw bener-bener minta maaf*

Tapi dari sini gw bisa ngeliat "dunia yang sebenernya". Gimana kelakuan orang lain bisa menjadi tantangan bagi kita sendiri, physically ataupun emotionally. Dan dunia ini kejam. Mereka yang ga bisa bertahan, bakalan menghilang...

Gw rasa gw harus bisa undergo kejadian-kejadian macem begini, dan itu artinya gw bakalan ngeliat banyak occurrence laen yang bisa jadi lebih parah.

I'll write again soon.

When Two or Three Are Gathered

2008-04-02T12:36:00.004+08:00

... it results in my insanity.

What I meant here isn't His words, "When two or three are gathered in My name, there I will always be"; instead, it about "two assignments and three quizzes" gathered together. Wow... I can barely cope with them...

I'm going to go through them, one by one, briefly.

The first enemy: BS802 (biology in business) assignment. Wednesday, 2/4/08. Not too hard. The lecturer asked to summarize a presentation. The slides weren't uploaded, but I have the photographs, hehe... that's about it.

The second enemy: BS802 (biology in business, again) project. Wednesday, 2/4/08. This one was very hard. I needed to compare the strengths and weaknesses of three different electroporators. It was one hell of business... but I've done it moments ago, so that's it. It's dead.

The third enemy / the first boss: BG1005 (materials science) quiz. Thursday, 3/4/08. Now this is really something. I'm fed up with all those crystals, impact, fracture, whatever! Progress? Don't ever ask. I will never be ready for quizzes =P

The fourth enemy / the second boss: BG1001 (engineering physics) quiz. Friday, 4/4/08. Two quizzes in two consecutive days. Great. The format is MCQ, and is carried out in 3 separate computer labs for 3 groups (an e-quiz).

The fifth enemy / the third boss: BG1007 (mathematics for engineers B) quiz. SATURDAY, 5/4/08. This is the climax. Not to mention the very fact that this makes three quizzes in three consecutive days, it's done on Saturday, of all days... this is going to be damn nasty. Fortunately, I can just plug in the numbers to certain formulae, but memorizing them is another big issue. What's more, the formulae can't be memorized by mnemonics >_<

There's still one quiz left for next week (i.e. 10/4/08), the BG1009 (anatomy and physiology) quiz, but it's a later business. I'll have to dedicate the remaining 4 days from next Sunday to Wednesday to scoop all those cells, tissues, organs, and systems to my cognizance. Aahhh... so tedious.

That's it. I'm hungry... I'll be eating at canteen 9 and back in a while. See you!

Tossing and Turning

2008-03-30T03:05:00.003+08:00

I am insomniac. For the last 5 days or so, I always sleep in restlessness... I've tried many methods--tiring myself out during the day, drinking milk, taking a shower, and even sleeping shirtless--but all these efforts seemed to be of no avail. No, no, I don't want to resort to sleeping pills. No drugs, whenever possible.

I suspect that my insomnia is due to hot weather. If this is so, then... damn. Big time. This sleeplessness is so severe already that it makes me be deprived of sleep! In turn, that shortage prevents me to concentrate well during my study time... arggghhhhh! I hate this!

Why can't the doctors in the medical centre give me an MC (for a reference to move to airconned hall) regarding this problem? Those STUPID (yes, I'll repeat with pleasure: STUPID) doctors seemed to neglect the fact that a psychological problem could give rise to a pathological condition! As doctors, they should have understood that this 'ere lack of sleep inhibits the work of the body's immune system and is also able to induce diabetes! If this continues until exam period, I can literally die due to lack of rest... oh my, oh my, oh my God!

In case of you want to know what a doctor said to me when I uttered this problem to me: "Ask your warden to install an aircon unit in your room lah..."

LIKE IT CAN BE DONE, BASTARD.

*ehm, sorry, I got too carried away...*

Now I understand why Prof. Leslie Loo will not give any make-up quizzes for those who cannot attend the main quiz due to sickness if their MC comes from most doctors in the medical centre. Yes, they are only taking their work for granted. Those people are pretenders.

And if my insomnia do prevail over me until exam period AND it affects my grade, then the doctors are the first to blame, and I don't even want it to happen.

Those trusted to maintain the health of people are already sick.

Health is sick.

A Thank-You Letter

2008-03-29T13:52:00.007+08:00

Thanks for the exam wishes, guys! Love you all... and I hope you can do your best in your exam as well!

Hm? What's an exam wish?

Well... this 'ere students in NTU, especially the active PINTU (Pelajar Indonesia NTU - Indonesian Students of NTU), ran a program called Exam Wishes. Here, you can give your friends a packet of food, stationaries, or bookmark (this one comes with 3 candies). It is to encourage one another for facing the upcoming exam.

As for me, I got a packet of food, 3 packets of stationaries, and 4 packets of bookmark/sweets... meaning I have 12 caramel and chocolate candies here! Glucose could be fattening, you know... -.-a

Once again I thank my dear friends, especially "kakak" Edo "yg baik", Tozzy, Yessica, Wenty, Maria, Cia, Itin, There, chief GL, and Clement. May your good deed and endeavor be fruitful in their time =)

God bless you all ^_^

Stupid

2008-03-28T16:30:00.002+08:00

Aaaahh... why am I so unfortunate?

Two stupid things happened to me in the past one hour.

One. I overslept. This is very common, but not in the middle of the day! You see, at 1230 I felt very sleepy, for an unknown reason. Knowing that my lecture was still two hours ahead, I took a siesta. Moments later, I woke up, refreshed and totally clueless about the time. When I looked at my handphone clock... holy shit... 1530... and so, I skipped the lecture. Damn! Exam's coming and I can still skip lectures!?

Two. I tripped. Now this is very embarrassing. I went down to the pantry to drink. It was (and is still) raining. The stairs were (and are still) wet and slippery. And it happened, all of a sudden. Somehow I lost missed a step and then... fell with an ungracious manner. As if it had not been enough, a janitor happened to be able to witness this unnecessary embarrassment...

And now I'm still waiting for another stupid occurrences to write ^_^

Natural Disaster

2008-03-28T09:22:00.004+08:00

Special thanks to Prof. Alastair Ritchie for telling us this joke. I need to edit it though for more enjoyment and so as not to offend anyone =)

Three students from Singapore were convicted of attempting to assassinate a parliamentary member of Chile in South America. They were sentenced to death by a firing squad.

As they were being brought to the execution site, they were engaged in a brainstorm on how they could escape the horrible fate that was going to befall them. But, no ideas came to their aid...

Finally they arrived at the site. The first student, still brainstorming, was called to stand before the firing squad.

The commandant asked, "Do you want me to blindfold you?" to which the student replied, "No. I will not shrink before the power of death."

Then the commandant gave a, well, command. "Ready! Take aim..."

And the student shouted out loud, "EARTHQUAKE!!!"

As South America is very prone to earthquakes, the entire squad was distracted by the bellowing of the student. They went into a panicking frenzy. Seeing this opportunity, the student then fled to safety.

Distraught upon finding that the earthquake was just a false alarm, the commandant called the second student, who was thinking of another distraction.

Again, the commandant asked whether or not he wanted to be blindfolded, to which he replied no.

The command was shouted. "Ready! Take aim..."

This time, the student screamed, "HURRICANE!!!"

As South America is frequently stricken by hurricanes, the squad went into a frenzy once again. The student followed the path to safety, as the first one did beforehand.

The commandant--now totally distressed--called the third student. Still, he offered him a blindfold, to which the student answered no.

The commandant then gave his last command. "Ready! Take aim..."

The student was very sure that his hoax would be successful, seeing the previous two had escaped to safety with the aid of natural disaster bullshits.

He then shouted another kind of disaster, "FIRE!!!"

Another Perspective

2008-03-28T08:42:00.002+08:00

Holy darkness, blessed night
Heaven's answer hidden from our sight
As we await you, o God of silence
We embrace your holy night

~ Holy Darkness by Dan Schutte, inspired by St. John of the Cross ~

I found this song in the Breaking Bread a few months ago. The title, Holy Darkness, was noteworthy for me. So I decided to take a look at the song and sang it.

... marvelous.

Dan Schutte's works are always of superb and ear-friendly tune. Take a glance at Here I Am Lord, City of God, or Though the Mountains May Fall, and listen to them. They are beautiful works of a composer. Aside from the tonal works, what made me compelled to reflect was primarily the lyrics of Holy Darkness.

Darkness.

Everyone seemed to think of it as a negative word. True, as for me, I don't like darkness as well, since darkness can and will discomfort me very badly. People frequently associate darkness with something bad, evil, horrible, you name it.

This song pierces through our cognizance about darkness. It's simply an exact opposite from what we have in mind.

Just reading the refrain makes me reflect...

He's there to comfort us whenever we are sad.
He's there to lift us whenever we are depressed.
He's there to be our hope whenever we are desperate.
He's there to die on the cross for our sins.

Basically, He's always there in our hours of darkness. So, why should we fear and feel discomforted by darkness? Maybe because in darkness we don't know where to go. Our senses don't work as they're supposed to. We lose direction. But that doesn't mean we lose our faith!

Let me jump to the song's fourth verse.

In your deepest hour of darkness
I will give you wealth untold
When the silence stills your spirit
Will my riches fill your soul

This particular verse brings to us yet another reason why we shouldn't think of darkness as an unpleasant issue. It strongly implies that He does not leave us even in its totality.

We often think whenever we are in darkness, He forsakes us and is unwilling to help.

And now I know that it's wrong...

As we struggle in darkness, He struggles to help us...

And tries to comfort us in its silence.

Just remember that He made darkness to negate us of our daily anxieties, so that we may rest relaxedly. It's not meant to have us be frightened or freaked out.

So, Loving God, we thank you for your holy darkness.

God bless you all ^_^

Sometimes Honesty Does Not Avail

2008-03-28T01:10:00.004+08:00

Hueeee... it's been a very long time - a month - since I last wrote...

And here I am again... trying to gather in mind what I am gonna write here... haha...

I must say that today I am very depressed. Why, because of a doctor at the medical centre! Now, let's see... who was the doctor? Ah, PY (for privacy reason). That old, bald doctor was so irrational!

Now, the reason I was at the medcent was to obtain a medical certificate (MC) as a reference to move from my hellishly hot hall to one of the two Antarctic-cold (ok, I was hyperbolic) halls.

And so, I said, "Well, you see, my hall is so hot, and I tend to develop rashes and acnes if I sweat."

To my surprise, he responded, "Then why don't you ask your warden to install aircon (AC, in case you don't know what an aircon is =P) in your room?"

Oh come on, doc, what is the rationale behind your words!? To date, only two out of sixteen halls in NTU are destined to be air-conditioned! And if your "splendid" (sarcastic mode: on) solution is doable, people would not even GIVE A DAMN about moving to hall 3 and 16! They can just give the general office a visit and said, "Hey, come to my room and give me an aircon unit, because I'm scorched dead," and voila! You get your oh-so-longed-for aircon unit magically installed.

What's more, he said, "It is you who have to adapt with the environment, not vice versa."

To some extent, his words are indeed true. Nothing is wrong. But please! How can I cope with the scorching weather here with my 'ere pimples and rashes? He said that as if he were able to adapt himself with the condition here. I'm sure if we remove his car's battery, he would complain in agony about how hot it is.

I was honest, but treated as though were lying.

Damn.

How very fortunate of me to have good friends. They're the ones who keep me sane. If I didn't have them, chances are tomorrow I'm going to wrap a sphigmomanometer's band (the band they wrap around your arm to measure your blood pressure) around the doc's neck, pump the device, and measure his systole and diastole as his cervical arteries burst... (sadistic mode: on)

No, of course not! I'm just kidding... =)

Anyway, tomorrow I'm gonna have a game of bowling with Edo and Randy. Afterwards, I'm having a dinner at KFC! What a nice (and also lavish) weekend treat! ^_^

Chorus Angelorum

2008-03-01T11:46:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was very tiring, but I was a bit amused.

The NTU CAC (Cultural Activities Club - or whatever the name) Choir performed a concert on the day indicating the leap year, February 29 (which happened to be yesterday, as said in the beginning), called Viva Voce.

But, I wonder why?

I could only enjoy the first half of the show... really; I don't intend to offend the choir guys, but it was true. It might be due to the genre... I guess I was more interested in choral songs they presented at the beginning.

Anyway... it was quite an amusement to watch them sing; I really have to go out and watch more choral concerts =)

Fortunate Feat

2008-02-27T02:53:00.004+08:00

This is something!

I was accepted as a GL! Wow, I was not less than surprised when I got the confirmation SMS! This is the time to show "what I am made of"... and this acceptance is a test of my capability as a group leader.

From what I've heard, all girls applying for GL are also accepted. It's quite evident because there would be 10 groups, while there were 10 girl applicants. Since one group can only have 2 GLs (a boy and a girl), well... no wonder the girls were all accepted. But, I tell you, the girls were not holding back at the audition! One of them cursed the chief GL with some "gue kutuk lo jadi bulu ketek" words (literally means... ahem, "I'll curse you to be armpit hair"), another sang Jablai and danced, and yet another broke a wooden spoon by smashing it hard to a frying pan! Too bad there were no (simulated) striptease performance... they said one of the previous girl GLs actually did that last year ^_^

Anyways... I am so glad and relieved. I hope I can do my best with my partner.

Btw, happy birthday Tere! Good luck for your endeavor here in NTU and God bless you always! Do not ever wake up late again, for the alarm clock we have given you "shrieks" very horrendously loudly. Hope it can help you.

Craziness of Plenty

2008-02-26T02:04:00.004+08:00

Haaa... so tired... but the subcomm recruitment drive was one hell of fun!

Well, as I said before, I had to expose some craziness out of me in GL audition... but everybody seemed to say I wasn't performing optimally... huh, it's because this damned sore throat! >_<

I acted as if I had been pregnant (it was better that striptease, but later I found many friends of mine removing their shirts and shorts). I shouted loud, loud, loud, but I couldn't maintain the amplitude. My voice "died out"... ah, so sad! Why did it have to be defective at such a significant moment? Fortunately Stefanie, the chief GL, said that I had entertained them with excellent fervor.

Now I am pretty nervous. I had been willing to be a GL, but couldn't perform very well. My fate is in their hands; I can only wait for the result... it feels as though I were waiting for exam results... hahaha... ^_^

But overall the drive was very enjoyable. I also helped Gun and Cia in interviewing hall IC subcomm applicants. There were Tozzy and Edo as well, so I could have some interesting natter with them.

I'll be at canteen A again for the next stage of recruitment to observe more hilarity. See you all there! ^_^

Lights, Camera, Action!

2008-02-25T01:16:00.002+08:00

I can't sleep! The images of GL audition keep haunting me.

I've tried to comfort myself, but to no avail. The main concern is that I would fail to entertain people, thus getting into a disadvantageous disposition and be rejected. Aaaa...

Well, I guess the only thing I gotta do now is to wait peacefully until the audition itself takes place. Hmm... who would have thought that acting with abnormal craze gives the actor himself stagefright? ^_^

P.S.: for you willing to take hall IC, yes, Cia and I (with Gun) will interview you. The recruitment will be together with GTD-X and T-Spray subcomm recruitment. See you there!

Audible, yet Invisible

2008-02-24T15:48:00.002+08:00

SHIT!!!

I heard something like a creaking see-saw from the forest behind my room!

What the hell was that sound!?!?

Not a Pseudo-Maincomm Anymore

2008-02-24T09:14:00.001+08:00

Last Thursday I had an interview to apply as chief hall IC for T-Spray. It's my first time being a "real" maincomm (i.e. by having a subcomm help me), so I was kinda nervous.

It's like, well, when I was interviewed, there were all kinds of thoughts haunting me; I didn't like to be rejected, but on the other hand, a very heavy responsibility awaits me if I were to be accepted.

And, uhm, I was accepted. So now I am working with Cia to have these hall IC-related things done. I hope I can do my best without neglecting academic matters and the fact that I also take part in FOC and prom night as "pseudo-maincomm".

So! If you are interested in joining us in T-Spray, please come to can A, at water cooler, from 8 pm onwards for subcomm recruitment. You can also apply for GTD subcomm there, but you have to fill the online form prior to interview.

See you all, then. We want you!!! ^_^

P.S.: if you wanna apply for hall IC, you have to wait for 2 weeks from now, and the interview won't be done by Cia and I.

One More Unimportant Intro

2008-02-23T14:51:00.009+08:00

Well, now...

I migrated from Friendster blog... and it's time for yet another intro.

Now, why "Anthology", of all names? Well, the words simply mean "collection of things", and in this case, "collection of my past experiences". It's quite likely that this blog may eventually be a chronology of my life, say, a diary, and when I reach 30s later, I can always read my own stories again and laugh at my past stupidity. Lame? I guess not, and you have to agree with me. ^_^

What on earth is "carta rubrum", you asked? It's Latin for "red card". Now, this might sound lame indeed, but... the words didn't come to me under specific circumstances at all. Basically, I was thinking to synthesize a good name for my domain, but could only come up with nothing. Suddenly, reason unbeknownst, I caught a glimpse at my ATM card (which happens to be red) and voilà (pron. vwa-la since it's French), that would be the name of the domain, "carta rubrum"! This seemingly inspirational encounter wasn't as grand as its own occurrence, believe me. I exaggerated it too much. =P

The superb words as this blog's description come from Marty Haugen's "Eye Has Not Seen", a Catholic hymn. The words simply struck me deeply; they have a very poignant nature. Just imagining the first phrase ("our lives are but a single breath") reminds me of how short and meaningless our lives can be in His eyes. Thus, before I cease to be, I would be more than willing to documentarize the remaining trails of my life here. (I guess this paragraph is the most emotional one ^_^)

Oh, if you ever want to visit my Friendster blog, please just visit arsmagna.blogs.friendster.com/countenance_of_cognizance and read to your heart's content.

Nuff said, enjoy!